Magnetization reversal of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy regulated by ferroelectric polarization in CoFe3N/BaTiO3 heterostructures: first-principles calculations

Exploring the electric-field switching of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in multiferroic heterostructures has important physical significance, which attracts great interest due to its promising application for energy-efficient information storage. Herewith, we investigate the effect of ferroelectric polarization on magnetic anisotropy in CoFe3N/BaTiO3 heterostructures using first-principles calculations. The calculations reveal that the magnetic anisotropy of CoFe3N can be regulated by ferroelectric polarization of BaTiO3. When the ferroelectric polarization reverses, the PMA of FeCo-TiO2 and FeN-BaO configurations remains, but in the FeN-TiO2 and FeCo-BaO cases, magnetic anisotropy inverses between out-of-plane and in-plane direction. Further orbital-resolved analysis indicates that the transition of magnetic anisotropy is mainly attributed to the orbital hybridization of interfacial Fe/Co atoms with O atoms induced by the magnetoelectric effect. This study may open an effective approach toward modulating PMA and lays a foundation to the development of low energy consumption memory devices.

Automated summary

In this study, the effect of ferroelectric polarization on magnetic anisotropy in CoFe3N/BaTiO3 heterostructures was investigated using first-principles calculations. It was found that the magnetic anisotropy of CoFe3N can be regulated by the ferroelectric polarization of BaTiO3. The transition of magnetic anisotropy is attributed to the orbital hybridization of interfacial Fe/Co atoms with O atoms induced by the magnetoelectric effect.