Large reversible electric-voltage manipulation of magnetism in NiFe/BaTiO3 heterostructures at room temperature

NiFe/BaTiO3 heterostructures were grown on (0 0 1)-SrTiO3 single crystal substrates with SrRuO3 as a buffer layer via pulsed laser deposition and off-axis magnetron sputtering. The magneto-optical Kerr effect measurement on the heterostructures demonstrated that the magnetism of the NiFe thin film can be reversibly manipulated by switching the electric voltage applied on the BaTiO3 layer, with a large change in the magnetic coercive field and saturation magnetization of the NiFe thin films. An analogous on–off switch of magnetism in the NiFe thin films was demonstrated and a novel way for Curie point writing based on the heterostructure was also proposed. Our results may provide a useful way for manipulating magnetism of bits in high-density information storage with better thermal performance and reduced power consumption.