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Carrier-mediated magnetoelectricity in complex oxide heterostructures

Nature Nanotechnology volume 3, pages 46–50 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Increasing demands for high-density, stable nanoscale memory elements, as well as fundamental discoveries in the field of spintronics, have led to renewed interest in exploring the coupling between magnetism and electric fields. Although conventional magnetoelectric routes often result in weak responses, there is considerable current research activity focused on identifying new mechanisms for magnetoelectric coupling. Here we demonstrate a linear magnetoelectric effect that arises from a carrier-mediated mechanism, and is a universal feature of the interface between a dielectric and a spin-polarized metal. Using first-principles density functional calculations, we illustrate this effect at the SrRuO3/SrTiO3 interface and describe its origin. To formally quantify the magnetic response of such an interface to an applied electric field, we introduce and define the concept of spin capacitance. In addition to its magnetoelectric and spin capacitive behaviour, the interface displays a spatial coexistence of magnetism and dielectric polarization, suggesting a route to a new type of interfacial multiferroic.

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Figure 1: Calculated magnetization induced by an external voltage.
Figure 2: Schematic of the carrier-mediated magnetoelectricity mechanism.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Department of Energy SciDac program on Quantum Simulations of Materials and Nanostructures, grant number DE-FC02-06ER25794 (M.S.), and by the National Science Foundation Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team programme, grant number 0609377 (J.M.R). N.A.S. thanks the Miller Institute at UC Berkeley for their support through a Miller Research Professorship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106-5050, California, USA

    James M. Rondinelli, Massimiliano Stengel & Nicola A. Spaldin

Authors
  1. James M. Rondinelli
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  2. Massimiliano Stengel
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  3. Nicola A. Spaldin
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Contributions

All authors conceived and designed the calculations. Formal extensions to density functional theory to include finite electric field calculations ab initio were implemented by M.S., and the calculations were performed by J.M.R. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Nicola A. Spaldin.

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Rondinelli, J., Stengel, M. & Spaldin, N. Carrier-mediated magnetoelectricity in complex oxide heterostructures. Nature Nanotech 3, 46–50 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2007.412

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