Controllable electric field tuning of anisotropic magnetic response of Ni/PMN-PT heterostructures

Epitaxial Ni films with various thicknesses were grown on (001)-oriented 0.7Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-0.3PbTiO(3) (PMN-PT) substrates. Electric field tuning (E-tuning) of ferromagnetic resonance field (H-r) was utilized to investigate the magnetic response of Ni films along different film directions. Butterfly-like H-r vs E curves are shown when magnetic field is applied along film edge. While the combination of both loop-like and butterfly-like H-r vs E curves are observed for Ni film with thicknesses of 180 nm and 240 nm, and merely loop-like curves can be seen for film thicknesses of 330 nm and 510 nm, as magnetic field is applied along film diagonal. These interesting phenomena are assumed to be related to ferroelectric and ferroelastic domain switching in PMN-PT, film strain status, as well as magnetic anisotropy in Ni film. This work demonstrates the feasibility of control of anisotropic magnetic response via electric field in multiferroic heterostructure.

Automated summary

This study investigates the magnetic response of epitaxial Ni films on PMN-PT substrates using electric field tuning, revealing different types of magnetic response curves along different film directions. The observed phenomena are assumed to be related to ferroelectric and ferroelastic domain switching, film strain status, and magnetic anisotropy, demonstrating the feasibility of controlling anisotropic magnetic response via electric field in multiferroic heterostructures.