Electrical Modulation and Probing of Antiferromagnetism in Hybrid Multiferroic Heterostructures

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates all-electric control and detection of antiferromagnetic order in heterostructures at room temperature, using ferroelectric and piezoelectric effects to modulate spin states for potential high-speed, low-energy spintronic devices.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for non-volatile electrical control and probing of antiferromagnetic order in heterostructures at room temperature, combining AHE detection with ferroelectric and piezoelectric effects.

Findings

33% modulation of anomalous Hall effect achieved

AFM order controlled by ferroelectric polarization

XMLD confirms AFM order modulation

Abstract

The unique features of ultrafast spin dynamics and the absence of macroscopic magnetization in antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials provide a distinct route towards high-speed magnetic storage devices with low energy consumption and high integration density. However, these advantages also introduce challenges in probing and controlling AFM order, thereby restricting their practical applications. In this study, we demonstrate an all-electric control and probing of the AFM order in heavy metal (HM)/AFM insulator (AFMI) heterostructures on a ferroelectric substrate at room temperature (RT). The AFM order was detected by the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and manipulated by the ferroelectric field effect as well as the piezoelectric effect in heterostructures of Pt/NiO/0.7Pb(Mg$_{1/3}$Nb$_{2/3}$)O$_{3}$--0.3PbTiO$_{3}$ (PMN--PT). The non-volatile control of AFM order gives rise to a 33\% modulation of AHE, which is further evidenced by synchrotron-based X-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD). Combined with the $in$-$situ$ piezoelectric response of AHE, we demonstrate that ferroelectric polarization contributes mainly to the control of the AFM order. Our results are expected to have broader implications for efficient spintronic devices.