TY - JOUR
KW - Electric fields
KW - Nanotechnology
KW - Ferroelectricity
KW - Switching
KW - Phase-field simulation
KW - Magnetoelectric couplings
KW - Ferroelastic switching
KW - Magnetoelectric devices
KW - Electric polarization
KW - Low-symmetry materials
KW - Multiple order parameters
KW - Stress-induced instabilities
AU - S.H Baek
AU - H.W Jang
AU - C.M Folkman
AU - Y.L Li
AU - B Winchester
AU - J.X Zhang
AU - Q He
AU - Y.H Chu
AU - C.T Nelson
AU - M.S Rzchowski
AU - X.Q Pan
AU - Ramamoorthy Ramesh
AU - L.Q Chen
AU - C.B Eom
AB - 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.
BT - Nature Materials
DO - 10.1038/nmat2703
LA - eng
M1 - 4
N1 - cited By 281
N2 - 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.
PB - Nature Publishing Group
PY - 2010
SP - 309
EP - 314
T2 - Nature Materials
TI - Ferroelastic switching for nanoscale non-volatile magnetoelectric devices
VL - 9
SN - 14761122
ER -