title: Large voltage-induced magnetic anisotropy change in a few atomic layers of iron.
abstract: In the field of spintronics, researchers have manipulated magnetization using spin-polarized currents. Another option is to use a voltage-induced symmetry change in a ferromagnetic material to cause changes in magnetization or in magnetic anisotropy. However, a significant improvement in efficiency is needed before this approach can be used in memory devices with ultralow power consumption. Here, we show that a relatively small electric field (less than 100 mV nm(-1)) can cause a large change (approximately 40%) in the magnetic anisotropy of a bcc Fe(001)/MgO(001) junction. The effect is tentatively attributed to the change in the relative occupation of 3d orbitals of Fe atoms adjacent to the MgO barrier. Simulations confirm that voltage-controlled magnetization switching in magnetic tunnel junctions is possible using the anisotropy change demonstrated here, which could be of use in the development of low-power logic devices and non-volatile memory cells.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shiota
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nozaki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizuguchi
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Tulapurkar
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shinjo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shiraishi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mizukami
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki