Magnetization switching in the BiFe0.9Mn0.1O3 thin films modulated by resistive switching process

Polycrystalline BiFe0.9Mn0.1O3 thin films have been prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si wafers by a sol-gel process. The film exhibits typical resistive switching (RS) effect. Moreover, accompanied with the RS process, remarkable magnetization switching (MS) behaviors happen, i.e., at low resistance state the film shows high saturation magnetization, while showing low saturation magnetization at high resistance state. We revealed that such a MS effect mainly originates from the conversion of Fe ion valence state between Fe2+ and Fe3+ during the RS process, which was confirmed by the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. The further first-principle calculations showed that the doping of Mn into the BiFeO3 could induce an impurity energy level which makes it facile to achieve the conversion of Fe ion valence state. Based on the conductive filament model, a possible mechanism of tuning the MS effect by RS process is proposed, which is closely related to the conversion of Fe ion valence state along with the forming and rupture of conduction filaments. This work provides us a promising avenue to design switchable multistate devices with both electric and magnetic functionalities.