title: Electric control of magnetism at the Fe/BaTiO₃ interface.
abstract: Interfacial magnetoelectric coupling is a viable path to achieve electrical writing of magnetic information in spintronic devices. For the prototypical Fe/BaTiO₃ system, only tiny changes of the interfacial Fe magnetic moment upon reversal of the BaTiO₃ dielectric polarization have been predicted so far. Here, by using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism in combination with high-resolution electron microscopy and first principles calculations, we report on an undisclosed physical mechanism for interfacial magnetoelectric coupling in the Fe/BaTiO₃ system. At this interface, an ultrathin oxidized iron layer exists, whose magnetization can be electrically and reversibly switched on and off at room temperature by reversing the BaTiO₃ polarization. The suppression/recovery of interfacial ferromagnetism results from the asymmetric effect that ionic displacements in BaTiO₃ produces on the exchange coupling constants in the interfacial-oxidized Fe layer. The observed giant magnetoelectric response holds potential for optimizing interfacial magnetoelectric coupling in view of efficient, low-power spintronic devices.
authors.affiliation: LNESS-Dipartimento di Fisica-Politecnico di Milano, Via Anzani 42, 22100 Como, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Radaelli
authors.affiliation: LNESS-Dipartimento di Fisica-Politecnico di Milano, Via Anzani 42, 22100 Como, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petti
authors.affiliation: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR-SPIN, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Plekhanov
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fina
authors.affiliation: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR - IOM, Laboratorio TASC, I-34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Torelli
authors.affiliation: 1] Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR - IOM, Laboratorio TASC, I-34149 Trieste, Italy [2] Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21941-972 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Salles
authors.affiliation: LNESS-Dipartimento di Fisica-Politecnico di Milano, Via Anzani 42, 22100 Como, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cantoni
authors.affiliation: LNESS-Dipartimento di Fisica-Politecnico di Milano, Via Anzani 42, 22100 Como, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rinaldi
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
authors.affiliation: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR - IOM, Laboratorio TASC, I-34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Panaccione
authors.affiliation: 1] Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, USA [2] Departamento Fisica Aplicada III, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Varela
authors.affiliation: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR-SPIN, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Picozzi
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fontcuberta
authors.affiliation: LNESS-Dipartimento di Fisica-Politecnico di Milano, Via Anzani 42, 22100 Como, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bertacco