Giant nonvolatile manipulation of magnetoresistance in magnetic tunnel junctions by electric fields via magnetoelectric coupling

Aitian Chen(Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter), Yan Wen(King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), Bin Fang(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Yuelei Zhao(Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter), Qiang Zhang(King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), Yuansi Chang(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Peisen Li(National University of Defense Technology), Hao Wu(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Haoliang Huang(University of Science and Technology of China), Yalin Lu(University of Science and Technology of China), Zhongming Zeng(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Jianwang Cai(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Xiufeng Han(Chinese Academy of Sciences), Tom Wu(King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), Xixiang Zhang(King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), Yonggang Zhao(Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter)
Nature Communications
January 10, 2019
10.1038/s41467-018-08061-5
Cited by 143Open Access
Full Text

Abstract

Electrically switchable magnetization is considered a milestone in the development of ultralow power spintronic devices, and it has been a long sought-after goal for electric-field control of magnetoresistance in magnetic tunnel junctions with ultralow power consumption. Here, through integrating spintronics and multiferroics, we investigate MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions on ferroelectric substrate with a high tunnel magnetoresistance ratio of 235%. A giant, reversible and nonvolatile electric-field manipulation of magnetoresistance to about 55% is realized at room temperature without the assistance of a magnetic field. Through strain-mediated magnetoelectric coupling, the electric field modifies the magnetic anisotropy of the free layer leading to its magnetization rotation so that the relative magnetization configuration of the magnetic tunnel junction can be efficiently modulated. Our findings offer significant fundamental insight into information storage using electric writing and magnetic reading and represent a crucial step towards low-power spintronic devices.

Related Papers

No related papers found

Powered by citation graph analysis