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Voltage‐Induced Coercivity Reduction in Nanoporous Alloy Films: A Boost toward Energy‐Efficient Magnetic Actuation
Author(s) -
Quintana Alberto,
Zhang Jin,
IsarainChávez Eloy,
Menéndez Enric,
Cuadrado Ramón,
Robles Roberto,
Baró Maria Dolors,
Guerrero Miguel,
Pané Salvador,
Nelson Bradley J.,
Müller Carlos Maria,
Ordejón Pablo,
Nogués Josep,
Pellicer Eva,
Sort Jordi
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201701904
Subject(s) - coercivity , materials science , nanoporous , joule heating , voltage , optoelectronics , spintronics , magnet , magnetic anisotropy , nanotechnology , condensed matter physics , magnetic field , engineering physics , composite material , magnetization , electrical engineering , ferromagnetism , engineering , physics , quantum mechanics
Magnetic data storage and magnetically actuated devices are conventionally controlled by magnetic fields generated using electric currents. This involves significant power dissipation by Joule heating effect. To optimize energy efficiency, manipulation of magnetic information with lower magnetic fields (i.e., lower electric currents) is desirable. This can be accomplished by reducing the coercivity of the actuated material. Here, a drastic reduction of coercivity is observed at room temperature in thick (≈600 nm), nanoporous, electrodeposited Cu–Ni films by simply subjecting them to the action of an electric field. The effect is due to voltage‐induced changes in the magnetic anisotropy. The large surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio and the ultranarrow pore walls of the system allow the whole film, and not only the topmost surface, to effectively contribute to the observed magnetoelectric effect. This waives the stringent “ultrathin‐film requirement” from previous studies, where small voltage‐driven coercivity variations were reported. This observation expands the already wide range of applications of nanoporous materials (hitherto in areas like energy storage or catalysis) and it opens new paradigms in the fields of spintronics, computation, and magnetic actuation in general.