Electric-field-control of resistance and magnetization switching in multiferroic Zn0.4Fe2.6O4/0.7Pb(Mg2/3Nb1/3)O3-0.3PbTiO3 epitaxial heterostructures

Multiferroic (001)-Zn0.4Fe2.6O4/0.7Pb(Mg2/3Nb1/3)O-3-0.3PbTiO(3) (ZFO/PMN-PT) epitaxial heterostructures have been investigated to demonstrate the electric-field-controlled resistance and magnetization switching. The tunabilitiy of resistance of the ZFO film is about -0.1% under the in-plane strain -0.02% at 296 K and 0.2% for the electric field 1.0 kV/cm at 80 K, respectively, and the tunabilitiy of magnetization is about 1.1% under the in-plane strain -0.11% at 296 K, which is attributed to the controllable strain transferred into the ZFO film from the piezoelectric PMN-PT substrate. A possible microscopic mechanism of the manipulation of resistance and magnetization is the enhancement of hopping amplitude of electrons between mixed-valent Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions under the electric-field-induced in-plane compressive strain. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3579994]