Browsing by Author "Pan, Xiaoqing"

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Atomic-Scale Mechanisms of Defect-Induced Retention Failure in Ferroelectrics
(2017-06-01)
Li, Linze
;
Zhang, Yi
;
Xie, Lin
;
Jokisaar, Jacob R.
;
Beekman, Christianne
The ability to switch the ferroelectric polarization using an electric field makes ferroelectrics attractive for application in nanodevices such as high-density memories. One of the major challenges impeding this application, however, has been known as retention failure, which is a spontaneous process of polarization back-switching that can lead to data loss. This process is generally thought to be caused by the domain instability arising from interface boundary conditions and countered by defects, which can pin the domain wall and impede the back-switching. Here, using in situ transmission electron microscopy and atomic-scale scanning transmission electron microscopy, we show that the polarization retention failure can be induced by commonly observed nanoscale impurity defects in BiFeO3 thin films. The interaction between polarization and the defects can also lead to the stabilization of novel functional nanodomains with mixed-phase structures and head-to-head polarization configurations. Thus, defect engineering provides a new route for tuning properties of ferroelectric nanosystems.
Deterministic, Reversible, and Nonvolatile Low-Voltage Writing of Magnetic Domains in Epitaxial BaTiO3/Fe3O4 Heterostructure
(2018-09-01)
Zhong, Gaokuo
;
An, Feng
;
Bitla, Yugandhar
;
Wang, Jinbin
;
Zhong, Xiangli
The ability to electrically write magnetic bits is highly desirable for future magnetic memories and spintronic devices, though fully deterministic, reversible, and nonvolatile switching of magnetic moments by electric field remains elusive despite extensive research. In this work, we develop a concept to electrically switch magnetization via polarization modulated oxygen vacancies, and we demonstrate the idea in a multiferroic epitaxial heterostructure of BaTiO3/Fe3O4 fabricated by pulsed laser deposition. The piezoelectricity and ferroelectricity of BaTiO3 have been confirmed by macro- and microscale measurements, for which Fe(3)O(4 )serves as the top electrode for switching the polarization. X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectra indicate a mixture of Fe2+ and Fe3+ at O-h sites and Fe3+ at T-d sites in Fe3O4, while the room-temperature magnetic domains of Fe3O4 are revealed by microscopic magnetic force microscopy measurements. It is demonstrated that the magnetic domains of Fe(3)O(4 )can be switched by not only magnetic fields but also electric fields in a deterministic, reversible, and nonvolatile manner, wherein polarization reversal by electric field modulates the oxygen vacancy distribution in Fe3O4, and thus its magnetic state, making it attractive for electrically written magnetic memories.
Discovery of a magnetic conductive interface in PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 /SrTiO3 heterostructures
(2018-02-15)
Zhang, Yi
;
Xie, Lin
;
Kim, Jeongwoo
;
Stern, Alex
;
Wang, Hui
Emergent physical properties often arise at interfaces of complex oxide heterostructures due to the interplay between various degrees of freedom, especially those with polar dis-continuities. It is desirable to explore if these structures may generate pure and controllable spin currents, which are needed to attain unmatched performance and energy efficiency in the next-generation spintronic devices. Here we report the emergence of a spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas (SP-2DEG) at the interface of two insulators, SrTiO3 and PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3. This SP-2DEG is strongly localized at the interfacial Ti atoms, due to the interplay between Coulomb interaction and band bending, and can be tuned by the ferroelectric polarization. Our findings open a door for engineering ferroelectric/insulator interfaces to create tunable ferroic orders for magnetoelectric device applications and provide opportunities for designing multiferroic materials in heterostructures.
Manipulating magnetoelectric energy landscape in multiferroics
(2020-06-05)
Huang, Yen-Lin
;
Nikonov, Dmitri
;
Addiego, Christopher
;
Chopdekar, Rajesh, V
;
Prasad, Bhagwati
Magnetoelectric coupling at room temperature in multiferroic materials, such as BiFeO3, is one of the leading candidates to develop low-power spintronics and emerging memory technologies. Although extensive research activity has been devoted recently to exploring the physical properties, especially focusing on ferroelectricity and antiferromagnetism in chemically modified BiFeO3, a concrete understanding of the magnetoelectric coupling is yet to be fulfilled. We have discovered that La substitutions at the Bi-site lead to a progressive increase in the degeneracy of the potential energy landscape of the BiFeO3 system exemplified by a rotation of the polar axis away from the < 111 > (pc) towards the < 112 > (pc) discretion. This is accompanied by corresponding rotation of the antiferromagnetic axis as well, thus maintaining the right-handed vectorial relationship between ferroelectric polarization, antiferromagnetic vector and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya vector. As a consequence, La-BiFeO3 films exhibit a magnetoelectric coupling that is distinctly different from the undoped BiFeO3 films. BiFeO3 has a wide application but the impact of rare-earth substitution for the evolution of the coupling mechanism is unknown. Here, the authors reveal the correlation between ferroelectricity, antiferromagnetism, a weak ferromagnetic moment, and their switching pathways in La-substituted BiFeO3.