Electric-field control of magnetization reversal at room temperature in SmFeO3 single-phase multiferroic thin film

Rare-earth orthoferrite SmFeO3 (SFO) is a promising single-phase multiferroic material because of simultaneous coexistence of magnetic and ferroelectric orders at room temperature (RT). However, the spin structures within this bulk material are antiferromagnetic arrangements, and the magnetoelectric (ME) coupling effect is weak. Thus, the realization of electric control of magnetization reversal at RT remains challenging. In this work, SFO thin films with different thicknesses of 30 nm, 60 nm and 90 nm were constructed onto LaNiO3 (LNO)-buffered LaAlO3 (LAO) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) θ-2θ scans and reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) patterns demonstrate the SFO is perfect growth along the LAO (00 l) direction. Besides, the magnetic measurement results indicate that all the thin films are induced obvious RT ferromagnetism by compressive strain of substrates. More importantly, when providing a pair of opposite polarization voltages of± 2.5 V for the 90 nm thin film, the ferroelectric and induced ferromagnetic domains at the same local area can realize synchronous reversal, which shows that the SFO thin film under compressive strain is a rare ferromagnetic-based ME multiferroic material at RT. This kind of material will produce wide application prospect in future electric-write magnetic-read high-density memories and other spintronics devices.