PRESS RELEASE

Electric-field control of magnetic moment in Pd

 

Authors

Aya Obinata, Yuki Hibino, Daichi Hayakawa, Tomohiro Koyama, Kazumoto Miwa, Shimpei Ono & Daichi Chiba 

Abstract

Several magnetic properties have recently become tunable with an applied electric field. Particularly, electrically controlled magnetic phase transitions and/or magnetic moments have attracted attention because they are the most fundamental parameters in ferromagnetic materials. In this study, we showed that an electric field can be used to control the magnetic moment in films made of Pd, usually a non-magnetic element. Pd ultra-thin films were deposited on ferromagnetic Pt/Co layers. In the Pd layer, a ferromagnetically ordered magnetic moment was induced by the ferromagnetic proximity effect. By applying an electric field to the ferromagnetic surface of this Pd layer, a clear change was observed in the magnetic moment, which was measured directly using a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer. The results indicate that magnetic moments extrinsically induced in non-magnetic elements by the proximity effect, as well as an intrinsically induced magnetic moments in ferromagnetic elements, as reported previously, are electrically tunable. The results of this study suggest a new avenue for answering the fundamental question of “can an electric field make naturally non-magnetic materials ferromagnetic?”

 

20150924_chuba_e.jpg

 

Abstract URL: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep14303