Abstract
Manipulation of tunneling spin-polarized electrons via a ferroelectric interlayer sandwiched between two ferromagnetic electrodes, dubbed multiferroic tunnel junctions (MFTJs), can be achieved not only by the magnetic alignment of two ferromagnets, but also by the electric polarization of the ferroelectric interlayer; this provides great opportunities for next-generation multistate memory devices. Here, we show that a La0.67Sr0.33MnO3(LSMO)/PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3(PZT)/Co structured MFTJ device can exhibit multilevel resistance states in the presence of gradually reversed ferroelectric domains via tunneling electroresistance and tunneling magnetoresistance, respectively. Nonvolatile ferroelectric control in the MFTJ can be attributed to separate contributions that arise from two independent ferroelectric channels in the PZT interlayer with opposite polarization. Our study shows the dominant role of "mixed" ferroelectric states on achieving accumulative electrical modulation of multilevel resistance states in MFTJs; thus paving the way for multifunctional device applications.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 044049 |
| Journal | Physical Review Applied |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 22 2019 |
Funding
This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFB0305500), National Natural Science Foundation of China (11504055), the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (2018JJ2480), and Fundamental Research Funds of Central South University (2018zzts324). E.V. and D.S. are thankful for start-up support provided by North Carolina State University and a NC State-Nagoya Collaboration Grant. The sample synthesis work at ORNL is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division.