Electric-field control of magnetic domain wall motion and local magnetization dynamics in multiferroic heterostructures

CIC nanoGUNE Seminars

Speaker

Sebastiaan van Dijken, Aalto University, Aalto, Finland

When

2011/12/13
13:00

Place

nanoGUNE seminar room, Tolosa Hiribidea 76, Donostia - San Sebastian

Add to calendar

iCal

Subscribe to Newsletter

Spintronic devices currently rely on magnetic switching or controlled motion of domain walls by an external magnetic field or spin-polarized current. Achieving the same degree of magnetic controllability using an electric field has potential advantages including enhanced functionality and low power consumption. In this presentation, I will discuss an approach to electrically control local magnetic properties, including the writing and erasure of regular ferromagnetic domain patterns and the motion of magnetic domain walls, in multiferroic heterostructures [1-3]. The method is based on recurrent strain transfer from ferroelastic domains in ferroelectric media to continuous magnetostrictive films with negligible magnetocrystalline anisotropy. Optical polarization microscopy images of both ferromagnetic and ferroelectric domain structures reveal that domain correlations and strong inter-ferroic domain wall pinning can be maintained in an applied electric field. This leads to an unprecedented electric controllability over the ferromagnetic microstructure, an accomplishment that produces giant magnetoelectric coupling effects and opens the way to electric-field driven spintronics. [1] T.H.E. Lahtinen, J.O. Tuomi, and S. van Dijken, Adv. Mater. 23, 3187 (2011) [2] T.H.E. Lahtinen, J.O. Tuomi, and S. van Dijken, IEEE Trans. Magn. 47, 3768 (2011) [3] T.H.E. Lahtinen, K.J.A. Franke, and S. van Dijken, [arXiv:1109.5514v1](http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.5514v1)