Ultrafast switching of the electric polarization and magnetic chirality in BiFeO3 by an electric field.
Using a first-principles-based effective Hamiltonian within molecular dynamics simulations, we discover that applying an electric field that is opposite to the initial direction of the polarization results in a switching of both the polarization and the magnetic chirality vector of multiferroic BiFeO3 at an ultrafast pace (namely, of the order of picoseconds). We discuss the origin of such a double ultrafast switching, which is found to involve original intermediate magnetic states and may hold promise for designing various devices.
Department of Physics and Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA.
Satadeep
S
Bhattacharjee
Department of Physics and Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA.
Dovran
D
Rahmedov
Electronic Materials Research Laboratory, Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education and International Center for Dielectric Research, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China.
Dawei
D
Wang
Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
Jorge
J
Iñiguez
Department of Physics and Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA.
L
L
Bellaiche