Voltage Control of Magnetization in a Chromia Based Thin Film Heterostructure

Controlling magnetism by electrical means is a key challenge in the field of spintronics. Utilizing magnetoelectric Cr₂O₃ (chromia) based heterostructures, electric control of ferromagnetic exchange bias has been achieved near room temperature. In this study the electrically-controlled magnetization is directly investigated in thin film chromia using MBE grown palladium as a sensing layer to detect the boundary magnetization intrinsic to all magnetoelectric antiferromagnets. Prototype hall bar devices are fabricated using lithography techniques. Using a process of magnetoelectric annealing, voltage control of magnetization is demonstrated in exceptionally thin films with significant implications for scalability of ultra-low power memory and logical devices.