Electric field effect on magnetization at the Fe/MgO(001) interface

• Published in: Applied physics letters Vol. 96; no. 22; pp. 222504 - 222504-3
• Main Authors: Niranjan, Manish K., Duan, Chun-Gang, Jaswal, Sitaram S., Tsymbal, Evgeny Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Institute of Physics 31-05-2010
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.3443658

Density-functional calculations are performed to explore magnetoelectric effects originating from the influence of an external electric field on magnetic properties of the Fe/MgO(001) interface. It is shown that the effect on the interface magnetization and magnetocrystalline anisotropy can be substantially enhanced if the electric field is applied across a dielectric material with a large dielectric constant. In particular, we predict an enhancement of the interface magnetoelectric susceptibility by a factor of the dielectric constant of MgO over that of the free standing Fe (001) surface. We also predict a significant effect of electric field on the interface magnetocrystalline anisotropy due to the change in the relative occupancy of the
3
d
-orbitals of Fe atoms at the Fe/MgO interface. These results may be interesting for technological applications such as electrically controlled magnetic data storage.