Control of magnetism at low electric fields in multiferroic 0.58BiFeO3-0.42Bi0.5K0.5TiO3 single crystal near morphotropic phase boundary

Electric field (E) control of magnetism (M) via the converse magnetoelectric (ME) effect in insulating multiferroics is promising in energy-efficient spintronic devices. However, strong ME coupling together with relatively low electric fields for E control of M is still challenging in practical applications. Here we report considerable and reproducible E control of M with E even much lower than the ferroelectric (FE) coercive field (EC) at room temperature (RT) in the multiferroic 0.58BiFeO3-0.42Bi0.5K0.5TiO3 (BF-BKT) single crystals residing in the tetragonal region, but next to the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). The E controlled M can be substantially suppressed by high magnetic fields (H). It is revealed that the E controlled M can be rather ascribed to both the Einduced lattice distortion and phase transformation than to FE domain switching in BF-BKT. The weakened converse ME effect at high H is attributed to the H-induced suppression of phase transformation. Our results demonstrate that the converse ME effect mediated by E-sensitive lattice structures in multiferroics near MPB might be promising in achieving ultralow power spintronic devices.

Automated summary

In this study, it was discovered that significant and reproducible control of magnetism with low electric fields can be achieved in BF-BKT single crystals near the morphotropic phase boundary. This control is mainly attributed to lattice distortion and phase transformation induced by the electric field, rather than ferroelectric domain switching.