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All‐Silicon Switchable Magnetoelectric Effect through Interlayer Exchange Coupling
Author(s) -
Liu Hang,
Sun JiaTao,
Fu Huixia,
Sun Peijie,
Feng Y. P.,
Meng Sheng
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201700257
Subject(s) - spintronics , condensed matter physics , materials science , magnetism , electric field , ferromagnetism , magnetoelectric effect , antiferromagnetism , ferroelectricity , silicon , thin film , density functional theory , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , multiferroics , dielectric , physics , quantum mechanics
The magnetoelectric (ME) effect originating from the effective coupling between electric field and magnetism is an exciting frontier in nanoscale science such as magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ), ferroelectric/piezoelectric heterojunctions etc. The realization of switchable ME effect under external electric field ind 0 semiconducting materials of single composition is needed especially for all‐silicon spintronics applications because of its natural compatibility with current industry. We employ density functional theory (DFT) to reveal that the pristine Si(111)‐ 3 × 3 R30° (Si 3 hereafter) reconstructed surfaces of thin films with a thickness smaller than eleven bilayers support a sizeable linear ME effect with switchable direction of magnetic moment under external electric field. This is achieved through the interlayer exchange coupling effect in the antiferromagnetic regime, where the spin‐up and spin‐down magnetized density is located on opposite surfaces of Si 3 thin films. The obtained coefficient for the linear ME effect can be four times larger than that of ferromagnetic Fe films, which fail to have the reversal switching capabilities. The larger ME effect originates from the spin‐dependent screening of the spin‐polarized Dirac fermion. The prediction will promote the realization of well‐controlled and switchable data storage in all‐silicon electronics.