title: Multistate nonvolatile straintronics controlled by a lateral electric field.
abstract: We present a multifunctional and multistate permanent memory device based on lateral electric field control of a strained surface. Sub-coercive electrical writing of a remnant strain of a PZT substrate imprints stable and rewritable resistance changes on a CoFe overlayer. A proof-of-principle device, with the simplest resistance strain gage design, is shown as a memory cell exhibiting 17-memory states of high reproducibility and reliability for nonvolatile operations. Magnetoresistance of the film also depends on the cell state, and indicates a rewritable change of magnetic properties persisting in the remnant strain of the substrate. This makes it possible to combine strain, magnetic and resistive functionalities in a single memory element, and suggests that sub-coercive stress studies are of interest for straintronics applications.
authors.affiliation: Départment Magnétisme des Objets NanoStructurés, Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (IPCMS), UMR 7504 CNRS-UdS, 67034 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Iurchuk
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Doudin
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kundys