Giant electrical modulation of magnetization in Co(40)Fe(40)B(20)/Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))(0.7)Ti(0.3)O(3)(011) heterostructure

We report a giant electric-field control of magnetization (M) as well as magnetic anisotropy in a Co(40)Fe(40)B(20)(CoFeB)/Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))(0.7)Ti(0.3)O(3)(PMN-PT) structure at room temperature, in which a maximum relative magnetization change (ΔM/M) up to 83% with a 90° rotation of the easy axis under electric fields were observed by different magnetic measurement systems with in-situ electric fields. The mechanism for this giant magnetoelectric (ME) coupling can be understood as the combination of the ultra-high value of anisotropic in-plane piezoelectric coefficients of (011)-cut PMN-PT due to ferroelectric polarization reorientation and the perfect soft ferromagnetism without magnetocrystalline anisotropy of CoFeB film. Besides the giant electric-field control of magnetization and magnetic anisotropy, this work has also demonstrated the feasibility of reversible and deterministic magnetization reversal controlled by pulsed electric fields with the assistance of a weak magnetic field, which is important for realizing strain-mediated magnetoelectric random access memories.