Electrical switching of magnetic polarity in a multiferroic BiFeO3 device at room temperature

Journal article

We have directly imaged reversible electrical switching of the cycloidal rotation direction (magnetic polarity) in a (111)_pc-BiFeO3 epitaxial-film device at room temperature by non-resonant x-ray magnetic scattering. Consistent with previous reports, fully relaxed (111)_pc-BiFeO3 epitaxial films consisting of a single ferroelectric domain were found to comprise a sub-micron-scale mosaic of magneto-elastic domains, all sharing a common direction of the magnetic polarity, which was found to switch reversibly upon reversal of the ferroelectric polarization without any measurable change of the magneto-elastic domain population. A real-space polarimetry map of our device clearly distinguished between regions of the sample electrically addressed into the two magnetic states with a resolution of a few tens of micron. Contrary to the general belief that the magneto-electric coupling in BiFeO3 is weak, we find that electrical switching has a dramatic effect on the magnetic structure, with the magnetic moments rotating on average by 90 degrees at every cycle.

Authors: Waterfield Price, N; Johnson, R; Saenrang, W; Bombardi, A; Chmiel, F

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Journal: Physical Review Applied
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 1
• Article number: 014033
• Publication date: 2017-07-27
• Acceptance date: 2017-06-16
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.8.014033
• ISSN: 2331-7019