Electric field driven magnetic switching in nanoscale multiferroic heterostructures

Recently, there has been a surge of research interest in the electric field control of magnetism due to its promising application in spintronic and memory devices, which has become a hot topic in the field of multiferroic research. In current spintronic technology, magnetic reversal is usually driven by a large electric current via current generated magnetic field or spin-torque effect to write/erase a magnetic bit, and thus producing large power consumption and heat dissipation. While using insulating multiferroic materials, the reversal of magnetization can be triggered by applying an electric field instead of current, hence dramatically reducing the energy consumption and heat dissipation. With the current miniature trend in microelectronic technology, it is very essential to explore the electric field driven magnetic reversal (EFMS) behaviours in a micro/nanometer scale. In this article we briefly review the new progress in the field of EFMS based on multiferroic heterostructures, including some new features arising from size reduction, as well as some recent experimental and theoretical advances towards nanoscale EFMS, e.g. strain-mediated coupling, or spin exchange coupling in BiFeO3-based heterostructures, and their associated mechanisms. Finally, some key challenges in developing future EFMS based magnetoelectric devices, and some prospects for future research are also discussed.