When ferroelectrics meet spintronics: Controlling spin with polar symmetry

Electric-field control of spin is a central challenge for next-generation, low-power information technologies. Polar, ferroelectric materials offer a powerful route to potentially achieve this goal because, in certain materials, switchable polarization can be coupled to magnetic order, spin transport, and spin-orbit-coupled electronic structure. This article discusses two complementary pathways by which polar materials enable spin functionality. First, a new generation of multiferroics stand poised to provide magnetoelectric control of magnetic order, magnon transport, and emerging spin textures including skyrmions, altermagnets, and chiral-spin states. Second, polar and ferroelectric Rashba systems use inversion-symmetry breaking to generate momentum-dependent spin textures without requiring magnetic order. This article highlights how optical spectroscopy, spin-dependent transport, nonlinear charge responses, and spin-charge interconversion elucidate these effects. Finally, the article discusses materials challenges and future opportunities for realizing robust ferroelectric-Rashba systems, electrically programmable magnonics, and polar-spin devices. Altogether, polar, ferroelectric, and multiferroic materials are positioned as critical materials for next-generation, low-energy memory and logic applications.