Electric-Field Control of Exchange Bias in Multiferroic Epitaxial Heterostructures

Abstract

The magnetic exchange between epitaxial thin films of the multiferroic (antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric) hexagonal ${\mathrm{YMnO}}_{3}$ oxide and a soft ferromagnetic (FM) layer is used to couple the magnetic response of the FM layer to the magnetic state of the antiferromagnetic one. We will show that biasing the ferroelectric ${\mathrm{YMnO}}_{3}$ layer by an electric field allows control of the magnetic exchange bias and subsequently the magnetotransport properties of the FM layer. This finding may contribute to paving the way towards a new generation of electric-field controlled spintronic devices.