Multiferroics: Progress and prospects in thin films

Multiferroic materials, which show simultaneous ferroelectric and magnetic ordering, exhibit unusual physical properties and in turn promise new device applications as a result of the coupling between their dual order parameters. We review recent progress in the growth, characterization and understanding of thin-fi lm multiferroics. The availability of high-quality thin-fi lm multiferroics makes it easier to tailor their properties through epitaxial strain, atomic-level engineering of chemistry and interfacial coupling, and is a prerequisite for their incorporation into practical devices. We discuss novel device paradigms based on magnetoelectric coupling, and outline the key scientifi c challenges in the fi eld. © 2010 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited and published by World Scientific Publishing Co. under licence. All Rights Reserved.