Voltage Control of Magnetic Anisotropy through Ionic Gel Gating for Flexible Spintronics

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Sep 5;10(35):29750-29756. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b07469. Epub 2018 Aug 23.

Abstract

In spite of recent rapid development of flexible electronics, voltage-tunable spintronic structures and devices on flexible substrates have been rarely studied. Here, voltage control of magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) is demonstrated via ionic gel (IG) gating on flexible polyimide substrates with a circuit operating voltage of 1.8 V. A reversible, nonvolatile VCMA switching of 114 Oe is achieved in Pt/Fe/Pt multilayer, where the spatial magnetic anisotropy distribution is determined quantitatively by electron spin resonance technique. This IG gating process is repeatable as the substrates are under different bending conditions. The voltage modulation of magnetic anisotropy through IG gating with excellent flexibility proposes potential applications in low-power wearable spintronic devices.

Keywords: ferromagnetic resonance; flexible spintronics; ionic gel gating; magnetoelectric coupling; voltage control of magnetism.