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Electric field (E-field) control of magnetism based on magnetoelectric coupling is one of the promising approaches for manipulating the magnetization with low power consumption. The evolution of magnetic domains under in-situ E-fields is significant for the practical applications in integrated micro/nano devices. Here, we report the vector analysis of the E-field-driven antiparallel magnetic domain evolution in FeCoSiB/PMN-PT(011) multiferroic heterostructures via in-situ quantitative magneto-optical Kerr microscope. It is demonstrated that the magnetic domains can be switched to both the 0° and 180° easy directions at the same time by E-fields, resulting in antiparallel magnetization distribution in ferromagnetic/ferroelectric heterostructures. This antiparallel magnetic domain evolution is attributed to energy minimization with the uniaxial strains by E-fields which can induce the rotation of domains no more than 90°. Moreover, domains can be driven along only one or both easy axis directions by reasonably selecting the initial magnetic domain distribution. The vector analysis of magnetic domain evolution can provide visual insights into the strain-mediated magnetoelectric effect, and promote the fundamental understanding of electrical regulation of magnetism.


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Vector analysis of electric-field-induced antiparallel magnetic domain evolution in ferromagnetic/ferroelectric heterostructures

Show Author's information Xinger ZHAOaZhongqiang HUa( )Jingen WUaTing FANGaYaojin LIaYuxin CHENGaYifan ZHAOaMengmeng GUANaDan XIANb,cChenying WANGb,cQi MAOb,cBin PENGaRen-Ci PENGaZiyao ZHOUaZhiguang WANGaZhuang-De JIANGb,cMing LIUa
Electronic Materials Research Laboratory, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education & International Center for Dielectric Research, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Collaborative Innovation Center of High-End Manufacturing Equipment, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
International Joint Laboratory for Micro/Nano Manufacturing and Measurement Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Abstract

Electric field (E-field) control of magnetism based on magnetoelectric coupling is one of the promising approaches for manipulating the magnetization with low power consumption. The evolution of magnetic domains under in-situ E-fields is significant for the practical applications in integrated micro/nano devices. Here, we report the vector analysis of the E-field-driven antiparallel magnetic domain evolution in FeCoSiB/PMN-PT(011) multiferroic heterostructures via in-situ quantitative magneto-optical Kerr microscope. It is demonstrated that the magnetic domains can be switched to both the 0° and 180° easy directions at the same time by E-fields, resulting in antiparallel magnetization distribution in ferromagnetic/ferroelectric heterostructures. This antiparallel magnetic domain evolution is attributed to energy minimization with the uniaxial strains by E-fields which can induce the rotation of domains no more than 90°. Moreover, domains can be driven along only one or both easy axis directions by reasonably selecting the initial magnetic domain distribution. The vector analysis of magnetic domain evolution can provide visual insights into the strain-mediated magnetoelectric effect, and promote the fundamental understanding of electrical regulation of magnetism.

Keywords: multiferroics, magnetoelectric effect, magnetic domains, magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE)

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Publication history

Received: 25 February 2021
Revised: 23 April 2021
Accepted: 17 May 2021
Published: 29 August 2021
Issue date: December 2021

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© The Author(s) 2021.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFB0407601), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 91964109, 62071374, and 51802248), the National 111 Project of China (Grant No. B14040), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. xxj022020008).

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