Electric-field control of magnetism in multiferroic heterostructures

We have studied electric-field control of magnetism in different multiferroic heterostructures, composed of ferromagnetic (FM) and ferroelectric (FE) materials such as Co40Fe40B20(CoFeB)/Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.7Ti0.3O3(PMN-PT) and magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) on PMN-PT, etc. A giant electric-field control of magnetization as well as magnetic anisotropy was observed in a CoFeB/PMN-PT structure at room temperature with a maximum relative magnetization change up to 83 percent and a 90$^{\circ}$ rotation of the easy axis. In MTJ of CoFeB/AlOx/CoFeB grown on PMN-PT, we demonstrate a reversible, continuous magnetization rotation and manipulation of tunneling magnetoresistance at room temperature by electric fields without the assistance of a magnetic field. These results show the interesting new physics and potential applications of the FM/FE multiferroic heterostructures.