Spintronics with multiferroics

In this paper, we review the recent research on the functionalization of multiferroics for spintronics applications. We focus more particularly on antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric BiFeO 3 and its integration in several types of architectures. For instance, when used as a tunnel barrier, BiFeO 3 allows the observation of a large tunnel magnetoresistance with Co and (La,Sr)MnO 3 ferromagnetic electrodes. Also, its antiferromagnetic and magnetoelectric properties have been exploited to induce an exchange coupling with a ferromagnet. The mechanisms of such an exchange coupling open ways to electrically control magnetization and possibly the logic state of spintronics devices. We also discuss recent results concerning the use of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric (La,Bi)MnO 3 as an active tunnel barrier in magnetic tunnel junctions with Au and (La,Sr)MnO 3 electrodes. A four-resistance-state device has been obtained, with two states arising from a spin filtering effect due to the ferromagnetic character of the barrier and two resulting from the ferroelectric behavior of the (La,Bi)MnO 3 ultrathin film. These results show that the additional degree of freedom provided by the ferroelectric polarization brings novel functionalities to spintronics, either as a extra order parameter for multiple-state memory elements, or as a handle for gate-controlled magnetic memories.