1. Max-Born-Institut, Max-Born-Strae 2A, 12489 Berlin, Germany
2. Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
3. Hahn-Meitner-Institut, Glienicker Strae 100, 14109 Berlin, Germany
4. Institut Laue-Langevin, 6 Rue Jules Horowitz, BP 156 - 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France

Correspondence to: Manfred Fiebig¹ Email: fiebig@mbi-berlin.de

Abstract

The quest for higher data density in information storage is motivating investigations into approaches for manipulating magnetization by means other than magnetic fields. This is evidenced by the recent boom in magnetoelectronics and 'spintronics'¹, where phenomena such as carrier effects in magnetic semiconductors² and high-correlation effects in colossal magnetoresistive compounds³ are studied for their device potential. The linear magnetoelectric effect—the induction of polarization by a magnetic field and of magnetization by an electric field—provides another route for linking magnetic and electric properties. It was recently discovered that composite materials and magnetic ferroelectrics exhibit magnetoelectric effects that exceed previously known effects^{4, 5} by orders of magnitude^{6, 7, 8, 9, 10}, with the potential to trigger magnetic or electric phase transitions. Here we report a system whose magnetic phase can be controlled by an external electric field: ferromagnetic ordering in hexagonal HoMnO₃ is reversibly switched on and off by the applied field via magnetoelectric interactions. We monitor this process using magneto-optical techniques and reveal its microscopic origin by neutron and X-ray diffraction. From our results, we identify basic requirements for other candidate materials to exhibit magnetoelectric phase control.

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