Nanopillars with E-field accessible multi-state (N ≥ 4) magnetization having giant magnetization changes in self-assembled BiFeO(3)-CoFe(2)O(4)/Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))-38at%PbTiO(3) heterostructures

We have deposited self-assembled BiFeO(3)-CoFe(2)O(4) (BFO-CFO) thin films on (100)-oriented SrRuO(3)-buffered Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))(0.62)Ti(0.38)O(3) (PMN-38PT) single crystal substrates. These heterostructures were used for the study of real-time changes in the magnetization with applied DC electric field (E(DC)). With increasing E(DC), a giant magnetization change was observed along the out-of-plane (easy) axis. The induced magnetization changes of the CFO nanopillars in the BFO/CFO layer were about ΔM/M(rDC) = 93% at E(DC) = −3 kv/cm. A giant converse magnetoelectric (CME) coefficient of 1.3 × 10(−7) s/m was estimated from the data. By changing E(DC), we found multiple(N ≥ 4) unique possible values of a stable magnetization with memory on the removal of the field.