@article{33541, keywords = {Electric fields, Nanotechnology, ferroelectricity, Switching, Phase-field simulation, Magnetoelectric couplings, ferroelastic switching, Magnetoelectric devices, Electric polarization, Low-symmetry materials, Multiple order parameters, Stress-induced instabilities}, author = {S.H Baek and H.W Jang and C.M Folkman and Y.L Li and B Winchester and J.X Zhang and Q He and Y.H Chu and C.T Nelson and M.S Rzchowski and X.Q Pan and Ramamoorthy Ramesh and L.Q Chen and C.B Eom}, title = {Ferroelastic switching for nanoscale non-volatile magnetoelectric devices}, abstract = {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.}, year = {2010}, journal = {Nature Materials}, volume = {9}, number = {4}, pages = {309-314}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group}, issn = {14761122}, doi = {10.1038/nmat2703}, note = {cited By 281}, language = {eng}, }