Electric-field tunable perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in tetragonal Fe4N/BiFeO3 heterostructures

Abstract

Electric field control on perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) is indispensable for spintronic devices. Herewith, in tetragonal Fe4N/BiFeO3 heterostructures with the FeAFeB/Fe-O2 interface, PMA in each Fe4N layer, not merely interfacial layers, is modulated by the electric field, which is attributed to the broken spin screening of the electric field in highly spin-polarized Fe4N. Moreover, the periodical dxy+dyz+dz2 and dxy+dx2−y2 orbital-PMA oscillation enhances the interactions between adjacent FeAFeB and (FeB)2N atomic layers, which benefits the electric field modulation on PMA in the whole Fe4N atomic layers. The electric-field control on PMA in Fe4N/BiFeO3 heterostructures is favored by the electric-field-lifted potential in Fe4N.