Ferroelastic switching for nanoscale non-volatile magnetoelectric devices

Journal Article

Baek, S.H, H.W Jang, C.M Folkman, Y.L Li, B Winchester, J.X Zhang, Q He, Y.H Chu, C.T Nelson, M.S Rzchowski, X.Q Pan, Ramamoorthy Ramesh, L.Q Chen, C.B Eom

10.1038/nmat2703

Multiferroics, where (anti-) ferromagnetic, ferroelectric and ferroelastic order parameters coexist1-5, enable manipulation of magnetic ordering by an electric field through switching of the electric polarization 6-9. It has been shown that realization of magnetoelectric coupling in a single-phase multiferroic such as BiFeO3 requires ferroelastic (71°, 109°) rather than ferroelectric (180°) domain switching 6. However, the control of such ferroelastic switching in a single-phase system has been a significant challenge as elastic interactions tend to destabilize small switched volumes, resulting in subsequent ferroelastic back-switching at zero electric field, and thus the disappearance of non-volatile information storage. Guided by our phase-field simulations, here we report an approach to stabilize ferroelastic switching by eliminating the stress-induced instability responsible for back-switching using isolated monodomain BiFeO3 islands. This work demonstrates a critical step to control and use non-volatile magnetoelectric coupling at the nanoscale. Beyond magnetoelectric coupling, it provides a framework for exploring a route to control multiple order parameters coupled to ferroelastic order in other low-symmetry materials. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Nature Materials

9

2010

14761122

cited By 281

Ramesh Lab