Antiferromagnetic textures in BiFeO3 controlled by strain and electric field
Open Access
- 6 April 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Communications
- Vol. 11 (1), 1-7
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15501-8
Abstract
Antiferromagnetic thin films are currently generating considerable excitement for low dissipation magnonics and spintronics. However, while tuneable antiferromagnetic textures form the backbone of functional devices, they are virtually unknown at the submicron scale. Here we image a wide variety of antiferromagnetic spin textures in multiferroic BiFeO3 thin films that can be tuned by strain and manipulated by electric fields through room-temperature magnetoelectric coupling. Using piezoresponse force microscopy and scanning NV magnetometry in self-organized ferroelectric patterns of BiFeO3, we reveal how strain stabilizes different types of non-collinear antiferromagnetic states (bulk-like and exotic spin cycloids) as well as collinear antiferromagnetic textures. Beyond these local-scale observations, resonant elastic X-ray scattering confirms the existence of both types of spin cycloids. Finally, we show that electric-field control of the ferroelectric landscape induces transitions either between collinear and non-collinear states or between different cycloids, offering perspectives for the design of reconfigurable antiferromagnetic spin textures on demand.This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- Electric field control of Néel spin–orbit torque in an antiferromagnetNature Materials, 2019
- A piezoelectric, strain-controlled antiferromagnetic memory insensitive to magnetic fieldsNature Nanotechnology, 2019
- Electrically induced and detected Néel vector reversal in a collinear antiferromagnetNature Communications, 2018
- Current polarity-dependent manipulation of antiferromagnetic domainsNature Nanotechnology, 2018
- Writing and reading antiferromagnetic Mn2Au by Néel spin-orbit torques and large anisotropic magnetoresistanceNature Communications, 2018
- Imaging Current-Induced Switching of Antiferromagnetic Domains in CuMnAsPhysical Review Letters, 2017
- Electrical switching of an antiferromagnetScience, 2016
- Crafting the magnonic and spintronic response of BiFeO3 films by epitaxial strainNature Materials, 2013
- Physics and Applications of Bismuth FerriteAdvanced Materials, 2009
- Electrical control of antiferromagnetic domains in multiferroic BiFeO3 films at room temperatureNature Materials, 2006