Electric-field modulation of magnetic properties of Fe films directly grown on BiScO3-PbTiO3 ceramics

An electric-field modulation of the magnetic properties through converse magnetoelectric effect was reported in Fe films directly grown on BiScO3-PbTiO3 (BSPT) ceramics based on the magneto-optical Kerr effect. When an electric field was applied on the piezoelectric BSPT ceramics, the coercive field (H-c) of the ferromagnetic Fe films changed dramatically and an upto 60% change in H-c was observed. The H-c electric field curve essentially tracked the dependence of the piezostrain of the BSPT ceramics on the electric field, which definitely demonstrated the magnetic-mechanical-electric coupling in such film-on-substrate composite structures. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3369284]