Crossing an Interface: Ferroelectric Control of Tunnel Currents in Magnetic Complex Oxide Heterostructures

Experimental results on entirely complex oxide ferromagnetic/ferroelectric/ferromagnetic tunnel junctions are presented in which the tunneling magnetoresistance is modified by applying low electric field pulses to the junctions. The experiments indicate that ionic displacements associated with the polarization reversal in the ferroelectric barrier affect the complex band structure at ferromagnetic ferroelectric interfaces. The results are discussed in the framework of the theoretically predicted magnetoelectric interface effect and may lead to novel multistate memory devices.