Low-voltage magnetoelectric coupling in membrane heterostructures
S. Lindemann, Julian Irwin, Gi‐Yeop Kim, Bo Wang, Kitae Eom, Jianjun Wang, Jia‐Mian Hu, Long‐Qing Chen, Si‐Young Choi, Chang‐Beom Eom, M. S. Rzchowski
Abstract
PT), are ideal FE layer candidates because of their giant piezoelectricity. However, thin films of PMN-PT suffer from substrate clamping, which substantially reduces piezoelectric in-plane strains. Here, we demonstrate low-voltage ME coupling in an all-thin-film heterostructure that uses the anisotropic strains induced by the (011) orientation of PMN-PT. We completely remove PMN-PT films from their substrate and couple with FM Ni overlayers to create membrane PMN-PT/Ni heterostructures showing 90° Ni magnetization rotation with 3 V PMN-PT bias, much less than the bulk PMN-PT ~100-V requirement. Scanning transmission electron microscopy and phase-field simulations clarify the membrane response. These results provide a crucial step toward understanding the microstructural behavior of PMN-PT thin films for use in piezo-driven ME heterostructures.