The magnetoelectric domains and cross-field switching in multiferroic BiFeO3

Bi Fe O 3 is an exciting multiferroic material because of its room temperature multiferrocity, excellent ferroelectric properties, and recently demonstrated electric control of antiferromagnetic domains. In this letter we report a theoretical study on the structure and evolution of magnetoelectric domains in BiFeO3. We not only observed the coupled ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic domains and demonstrated the electric control of antiferromagnetic ordering, both in consistency with experiments, but also revealed the switching of antiferromagnetic domains by mechanical stress that is yet to be explored in experiments.