Giant magnetoelectric effect at the graphone/ferroelectric interface

Nature

Giant magnetoelectric effect at the graphone/ferroelectric interface"


Play all audios:

Loading...

ABSTRACT Multiferroic heterostructures combining ferromagnetic and ferroelectric layers are promising for applications in novel spintronic devices, such as memories with electrical writing


and magnetic reading, assuming their magnetoelectric coupling (MEC) is strong enough. For conventional magnetic metal/ferroelectric heterostructures, however, the change of interfacial


magnetic moment upon reversal of the electric polarization is often very weak. Here, by using first principles calculations, we demonstrate a new pathway towards a strong MEC at the


interface between the semi-hydrogenated graphene (also called graphone) and ferroelectric PbTiO3. By reversing the polarization of PbTiO3, the magnetization of graphone can be electrically


switched on and off through the change of carbon-oxygen bonding at the interface. Furthermore, a ferroelectric polarization can be preserved down to ultrathin PbTiO3 layers less than one


nanometer due to an enhancement of the polarization at the interface. The predicted strong magnetoelectric effect in the ultimately thin graphone/ferroelectric layers opens a new opportunity


for the electric control of magnetism in high-density devices. SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS CHARGE CARRIER MODULATION IN GRAPHENE ON FERROELECTRIC SINGLE-CRYSTAL SUBSTRATES


Article Open access 15 July 2022 GIANT FERROELECTRIC POLARIZATION IN A BILAYER GRAPHENE HETEROSTRUCTURE Article Open access 21 October 2022 UNCONVENTIONAL FERROELECTRICITY IN MOIRÉ


HETEROSTRUCTURES Article 23 November 2020 INTRODUCTION The coupling of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric orders in multiferroic materials has attracted continuous attention due to its


potential use in novel spintronic devices such as data-storage devices for writing electrically and reading magnetically1,2,3,4,5. In perovskites, ferroelectricity typically requires a


formal _d_0 electron configuration that drives electric polarization through cation off-centering, whereas a partially filled _d_ state is required for a magnetic moment6. As a result, the


coexistence of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric orders is relatively rare in single-phase compounds. By contrast, composite multiferroics made of ferroelectric and ferromagnetic constituents


are abundant in the form of heterostructures, in which MEC exists at the interface through different mechanisms7,8,9,10,11,12. One kind of such heterostructures investigated so far consist


in multilayers combining a conventional ferromagnetic metal and a ferroelectric insulator perovskite oxide. For example, the interface between ferroelectric BaTiO3 (BTO) and ferromagnetic Fe


or Co has been intensively investigated due to the presence of interfacial MEC13,14,15. The interfacial MEC is attributed to the change of magnetic moments either at the interfacial


atoms13,14 or at the interfacial oxidized Fe layer15, whose magnetization can be tuned on reversal of the ferroelectric polarization. Nevertheless, the change of interfacial magnetization


upon reversal of the electric polarization in the conventional Fe/BaTiO3 system13,14 is still small. Practical application of MEC in memory devices requires new magnetoelectric


heterostructures that have strong magnetoelectric effect. Moreover, a practical tendency towards ultrahigh-density memory devices drives the current research towards ultimately-thin


multiferroic materials16,17. However, multiferroic materials often lose their ferroic properties below a critical size, in particular for ferroelectric materials18,19,20,21,22. In


ferroelectric nanocapacitors, even in short-circuit, the incomplete screening of the depolarizing field can suppress ferroelectricity20,23,24. The critical thickness at which the


ferroelectric order disappears has been intensively investigated in ferroelectric thin films24,25,26,27,28,29 as well as multiferroic Fe/BaTiO3 multilayers13. To track the challenge of


critical size in magnetoelectric ultrathin films, a novel concept for seeking alternative magnetic constituents rather than the conventional ferromagnetic metal is needed in stabilizing the


polarization in ferroelectric constituent. Recently, a form of two-dimensional semi-hydrogenated graphene sheet, which is referred to as “graphone”, was found to be a ferromagnetic


semiconductor with a small indirect gap30,31. Semi-hydrogenation breaks the delocalized \({\rm{\pi }}\) bonding network of graphene, leaving the electrons in the unhydrogenated carbon atoms


localized and unpaired, which results in large magnetic moments at these sites. Different from graphene with vacancy, substitution and zigzag edge32,33,34,35, in which magnetism is


inhomogenously distributed and the integrity of the structure is destroyed, graphone not only exhibits homogenously distributed single-layer magnetism but also keeps the integrity of the


structure. Therefore, two-atom thick graphone is a possible ferromagnetic constituent to replace conventional metal in ultimately-thin multiferroic heterostructures. Due to the intriguing


coupling of ferroelectric polarization and charge carriers in graphene, graphene-ferroelectric heterostructures (without hydrogenation) have been fabricated as field-effect


transistors36,37,38,39,40,41 and flexible transparent electrodes42. The influence of polarization on the electronic transport of graphene has been studied for graphene-ferroelectric


heterostructures43,44,45. Recently, the electronic and magnetic properties of the interface between graphene and ME multiferroics were investigated by using first principles calculations46,


yet the screening effect of graphene or graphone on the polarization in ultrathin ferroelectric films is unclear so far. In particular, whether there exists an interfacial MEC between the


graphone and ferroelectric perovskite oxide is unknown. Here, by using first principles calculations, we demonstrate that there is a strong interfacial MEC in the ultrathin heterostructures


made of graphone and ferroelectric PbTiO3 (PTO), which exhibits an undisclosed physical mechanism and significant improvement over the interfacial MEC of conventional metal/ferroelectric


heterostructures. We have conducted a systematic exploration for the graphone/PTO heterostructures with different thicknesses using density-functional theories to provide a detailed insight


into the interfacial electronic structures and magnetic properties. We first clarify that not all forms of graphone are ferromagnetic and the ground state is a non-magnetic insulator. We


then reveal that a magnetization can emerge at the PTO/graphone interface. This magnetization exhibits strong sensitivity to the direction of ferroelectric polarization, and can even be


electrically switched on and off by reversing the polarization of PTO layer, yielding an intriguingly non-magnetic -ferromagnetic (NM-FM) phase transition. As a consequence, a giant


interfacial MEC of \(7.3\times {10}^{-10}{\rm{G}}\times {\rm{c}}{{\rm{m}}}^{2}/{\rm{V}}\) per unit cell is obtained at the graphone/PTO interface, which largely exceeds the prediction of


\(2.1\times 1{0}^{-10}{\rm{G}}\times {\rm{c}}{{\rm{m}}}^{2}/{\rm{V}}\) in conventional Fe/BaTiO3 multilayers13. Furthermore, due to the strong interactions of interfacial atoms and the


screening of interfacial charge by graphone, a spontaneous ferroelectric polarization can exist at the ultrathin PbTiO3 layer less than one nanometer, indicating the disappearance of


critical size for ferroic orders. Our finding of strong magnetoelectric effect in the ultimately thin graphone/ferroelectric heterostructures suggests a novel platform to realize the


electric control of magnetism for high density and low-power memory devices. RESULTS THE GRAPHONE/PTO/GRAPHONE HETEROSTRUCTURE We perform density-functional calculations using the Vienna Ab


Initio Simulation Package (VASP)47,48 on the electronic, magnetic and structural properties of graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers. PbTiO3 has a larger out-of-plane polarization and a smaller


ferroelectric critical size than common ferroic materials such as BaTiO3 and BiFeO349,50,51. In addition, the MEC of PbTiO3-based heterostructures is larger than that of BaTiO3 system52.


Therefore, PbTiO3 is selected as the ferroelectric layer in the present study. Here, generalized gradient approximation (GGA) with effective Coulomb-exchange interaction Ueff = U − J = 3 


eV53 imposed for Ti-_d_ orbitals is employed. The trilayer structure is modeled as a supercell including 3 × 2 graphene and 2 × 1 PTO unit cells in the (001) plane (Fig. S1 in Supplementary


Information). In the [001] direction, various thicknesses of PTO layer are described by the generic formula [Graphone_/_(PbO-TiO2)_m_-PbO/Graphone], where _m_ denotes the number of unit


cells of PTO layer. The in-plane sizes of the supercell are constrained at 7.81 Å and 3.905 Å in [100] and [010] directions to simulate the growth on SrTiO3 substrate. Such a substrate


produces an epitaxial strain on PTO and forces a ferroelectric tetragonal phase with polarization perpendicular to the interface54 as generally used to control magnetism at the interface in


multiferroic heterostructures. For the graphone layer, there are three possible semi-hydrogenated configurations, namely the boat doping, chair doping and zigzag doping, as shown in Fig. 


1(a–c), respectively. In order to determine the most stable configuration, the energetic, electronic and magnetic properties of three kinds of isolated graphones are first examined. Both


spin-polarized and non-polarized calculations are performed to obtain the magnetic ground state. Interestingly, the chair, boat and zigzag doping graphones exhibit the properties of


ferromagnetic semiconductor, non-magnetic semiconductor and non-magnetic metal, respectively. For the boat and zigzag graphones, the doping of hydrogen atoms at two consecutive sublattices


partially preserve the π-bonding network of graphene and do not produce any unpaired electron, resulting in non-magnetic behaviors and the symmetric band structures for spin up and spin


down, as shown in Fig. 1(d,f), respectively. In case of chair doping, the partial saturation of graphene by H-atoms results in breaking of π-bonding network and ferromagnetism appears from


the p-electrons associated with unhydrogeneted carbon atoms. The splitting of energy band structures for spin up and spin down in Fig. 1(e) confirms the ferromagnetic and semiconductor


nature of chair doping graphone, which is consistent with the previous calculation31. It is also found that the energies of boat and zigzag graphones are 1.82 eV and 1.71 eV lower than that


of the chair doping graphone, respectively. Based on the energies, the boat doping is the most stable among the three cases, and is selected in the present study to investigate the


interfacial MEC of the graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers. The energy difference between the magnetic and non-magnetic states of the ferroelectric graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers is now


examined. It is found that the magnetic state is more energetically favorable than the non-magnetic state, as shown by the energy difference of two states in Table 1, which implies that the


magnetic states are stable in the graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers although the isolated PTO layer and boat doping graphone do not possess individually any magnetism. INTERFACIAL


MAGNETOELECTRIC EFFECT The magnetism of graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers stems from the interaction of interfacial atoms between graphone and PTO. The symmetry breaking due to polarization in


the ferroelectric PTO layer plays a crucial role in changing the atoms interactions and the appearance of magnetism at the interface. When the PTO layer is paraelectric, the structural


relaxation is identical at both interfaces as shown by Fig. S1 in Supplementary Information. Atomic interactions are very weak between graphone and PTO and the whole system keeps a


non-magnetic state. When the PTO layer is ferroelectric with downward polarization, the polar atomic distortion breaks the symmetry between the top and bottom interfaces, causing changes to


the bond configuration at the interfaces. The strong hybridization between C _2p_ and O _2p_ orbitals at top interface has a significant effect on the local electronic and magnetic structure


of graphone layer which is responsible for the appearance of magnetic moments, the origin of which will be discussed later. Figure 2(a) shows the spin charge density at the top interface of


the graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers (m = 4) with downward polarization, in which magnetic moments mainly concentrate on the C atoms in the top graphone layer. At the opposite, the spin


charge density almost vanishes at the bottom graphone layer as shown in Fig. 2(b). This shows that a magnetic to non-magnetic phase transition will take place at PTO/graphone interfaces when


the polarization is switched by an external electric field. Consequently, a novel interfacial magnetoelectric effect is obtained at the graphone/PTO heterostructures. Next, we check the


influence of the thickness of the ferroelectric PTO layer on the interfacial magnetoelectric coupling, which is important for the miniaturization of magnetoelectric devices. Table 1 gives


the total magnetic moments at the top and bottom interfaces of the graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers with different thicknesses of PTO layers (1 × 1 PTO unit cell). The total magnetic moments


at the top interface are 0.98 \({\mu }_{B}\), 1.00 \({\mu }_{B}\) and 1.00 \({\mu }_{B}\) for m = 2, 4 and 6, respectively, when the polarization is downward. In contrast, the magnetic


moments at the bottom interface are negligible, which are 0.07 \({\mu }_{B}\), 0.05 \({\mu }_{B}\)and 0.05 \({\mu }_{B}\) for m = 2, 4 and 6, respectively. The difference of magnetic moments


of the top and bottom interface ranging from 0.91 \({\mu }_{B}\) to 0.95 \({\mu }_{B}\). The results show that the difference of magnetic moments between the top and bottom interfaces is


still sizable when the thickness is less than m = 6, indicating that the large magnetoelectric effect remains at the interface in ultimately-thin graphone/PTO/graphone. The influence of an


electric field _E_ on the interface magnetization _M_ is usually described in terms of the interfacial MEC coefficient \({\alpha }_{s}\) according to the equation of \({\mu }_{0}{\rm{\Delta


}}M={\alpha }_{s}E\). Considering the coercive field of PTO is about 100 kV/cm51, the interfacial MEC coefficient \({\alpha }_{s}\) is estimated to be \(7.3\times {10}^{-10}{\rm{G}}\cdot


{{\rm{cm}}}^{2}/{\rm{V}}\) for the graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers with m = 4, which is more than three times larger than that of the Fe/BTO multiferroic heterostructures13. To investigate


the influence of different exchange-correlation functionals, the interfacial MEC coefficient is also estimated based on the DFT calculations with PBE and PBEsol functionals. The calculated


values are \(7.3\times {10}^{-10}{\rm{G}}\cdot {{\rm{cm}}}^{2}/{\rm{V}}\) and \(6.5\times {10}^{-10}{\rm{G}}\cdot {{\rm{cm}}}^{2}/{\rm{V}}\), respectively, which implies that the interfacial


MEC coefficient is less dependent on the exchange-correlation functional. ORIGIN OF THE MAGNETO-ELECTRIC COUPLING The predicted giant MEC at graphone/PTO interface can be understood from


the change in atomic interactions and charge density difference. The polarization induces asymmetric atomic displacements across the interfaces and results in an orbital mixing. Figure 3(a)


shows that downward polarization brings the interfacial oxygen atoms close to the graphone layer at top interface. The nearest distance between C and O atoms at top interface is only 1.42 Å,


which facilitates a stronger interaction between C (cation) and O (anion). The strong atomic interaction leads to a strong charge transfer as shown by charge density difference in Fig. 


3(b,c), which results in nonzero spin charge density mainly localized on the interfacial C atoms in Fig. 2(a). At the opposite, the oxygen atoms at the bottom interface are far from the


graphone layer. There is a C-Pb (cation-cation) interaction but it is weak and yielding a small charge transfer at the bottom interface as revealed by the charge density difference in Fig. 


3(e,f). The MEC in graphone/PTO can also be qualitatively estimated from the density of state presented in Fig. 4. It is found that the top interface with downward polarization forms highly


spin-polarized states close to the Fermi level as compared to that of bottom interface (Fig. 4(a)), suggesting that polarization in the heterostructure is associated with the depletion and


accumulation of the charge density at top and bottom interfaces, respectively. To give a further insight into the origin of a sizable magnetization at the interface, projected density of


states (PDOS) of two nearest-neighbor carbon atoms in isolated boat graphone and interfacial graphone are shown in Fig. 4(b). For isolated graphone, the unpaired electron in two C atoms form


the π-bonding and there is no spin splitting. For graphone at the heterostructure interface, due to the strong interaction between one of the two C atoms with the interfacial oxygen atom,


electron transfers from the carbon to the oxygen atom and the local π-bonding network is broken. As a result, the unpaired electron in another carbon atom forms the spin-polarized states


just below the Fermi with a high spin moment of 0.64 \({\mu }_{B}\). Thus, the difference in the spin moments at the top and bottom interfaces results in a high MEC for the graphone/PTO


heterostrucuture. Although the graphone with boat doping exhibits the lowest energy, the energy difference between the zigzag and boat graphones is quite small, indicating that the zigzag


and boat graphones may coexist in practical situation. To verify the generality of above magneto-electric coupling, the existence of MEC in the graphone/PTO heterostrucuture with zigzag


doping is also examined. Fig. S2 shows the spin charge density of zigzag graphone/PTO heterostructures with m = 4. Similar to the above boat doping, a sizable magnetization is found at the


top graphone layer with zigzag doping due to the strong interactions between interfacial carbon and oxygen atoms, and the bottom layer remains non-magnetic. The calculated MEC coefficient


\({\alpha }_{s}\) with zigzag doping is \(7.3\times {10}^{-10}{\rm{G}}\cdot {{\rm{cm}}}^{2}/{\rm{V}}\), which is the same as that of boat doping. These results highlight that electric field


controlled magnetism is generic no matter in the boat type or less stable zigzag type, which is important for realizing the magnetoelectric effect in experiments because it may be difficult


to precisely control the doping position of hydrogen atoms. ABSENCE OF FERROELECTRIC CRITICAL SIZE As shown above, the presence of ferroelectric polarization in PTO layer causes the


difference of magnetic moments at the top and bottom interfaces of graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers, which results from the change in the strength of bonding between C and O atoms. Therefore,


the stability of ferroelectric distortion in PTO layer is crucial for the existence of interfacial MEC of graphone/PTO/graphone heterostructure. The polarizations in the PTO layer with


different thicknesses are calculated and listed in Table 1. It is found that the polarization not only can survive in ultrathin layers down to 2 unit-cells as observed in experiments27,28


but also have a larger value than bulk polarization, indicating the enhancement of the polarization at the interface in a way similar to what was predicted at interface between AO-terminated


perovskites and simple metals24. This polarization enhancement is due to the strong atomic interaction at the interface. The atomic interactions at both top and bottom interfaces induces a


larger Pb-O relative displacements in the interface layers than in the middle layers as shown by the profiles of atom rumpling (i.e. the cation-oxygen relative displacements within each


atomic layer) in Fig. 5. Furthermore, the rumpling does not decrease when the thickness of PTO layer decreases, which makes the polarization stable at a very small size. To further support


the validity and effectiveness of the GGA + U method in the prediction of critical thickness, PBEsol functional55 for solids and surfaces is also employed to relax the structure and to


calculate the rumpling as shown in Fig. S3 in the Supplementary Information. It is clear that a spontaneous polarization can be stabilized in two-unit cell thick layer, although the rumpling


amplitude is slightly smaller than at the GGA + U level. The absence of ferroelectric critical size in graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers may also be understood from the charge transfer at the


top and bottom interfaces. At the top interface, there are more electrons lost than gained when the polarization is downward as shown in Fig. 3(c), resulting in net positive charges that


screen the polarization induced negative charges. The situation is reversed for bottom interface, in which more electrons gained to screen the polarization induced positive charges as shown


by Fig. 3(d). The charge transfer provides the partial screening at both interfaces, which decreases the depolarization field and thus stabilizes ferroelectric distortion in the ultrathin


PTO layer. In addition, the change of PTO thickness has not too much influence on the MEC of graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers, as shown by the interfacial MEC coefficient \({\alpha }_{s}\)


for different thicknesses in Table 1. The ultimately thin graphone/PTO/graphone trilayers not only possess stable polarization but also exhibit strong magnetoelectric coupling, which


suggests an ultrathin multiferroic heterostructures for future ultrahigh spintronic memories. DISCUSSION In summary, we have conducted a systematic exploration for graphone/PTO/graphone


trilayers of different thicknesses which together revealed and provided a detailed insight into a sizable interface MEC. Several interesting and practically useful properties are predicted.


Firstly, we demonstrate that the magnetization emerging in the graphone layer exhibits strong sensitivity to the direction of the ferroelectric polarization, and can even be electrically


switched on and off by reversing the polarization, yielding a novel non-magnetic-ferromagnetic (NM-FM) phase transition. As a consequence, a giant interfacial MEC of \(7.3\times


{10}^{-10}{\rm{G}}\times {\rm{c}}{{\rm{m}}}^{2}/{\rm{V}}\) is obtained at the interface of the trilayers. In addition to the strong MEC at the interface between the graphone and


ferroelectric PbTiO3, an undisclosed physical mechanism, in which the change of carbon-oxygen bonding at the interface plays an important role, is predicted for the MEC based on the detailed


analysis of electronic structures. To track the challenge of critical size in magnetoelectric ultrathin films, a novel graphone magnetic constituents rather than the conventional


ferromagnetic metal is proposed to stabilize the spontaneous polarization in ultrathin ferroelectric constituent. Due to the strong carbon-oxygen bonding and the screening of interfacial


charge by graphone, a spontaneous polarization can exist at the ultrathin PbTiO3 layer less than one nanometer, indicating the disappearance of critical size for ferroic orders. The proposed


graphone/PTO/graphone multiferroic heterostructure exhibits significant improvements over the conventional Fe/BTO multiferroic heterostructure: (i) The MEC of graphone/PTO/graphone is more


than three times in magnitude larger than that of Fe/BaTiO3; (ii) The single layer nature of graphone instead of thick metal electrode makes the multiferroic heterostructure ultimately thin,


which may increase the density of spintronic memories; (iii) The voltage to switch the polarization is greatly reduced due to the ultrathin nature of ferroelectric layer in the multiferroic


heterostructure. Our finding of strong magnetoelectric effect in the ultimately thin graphone/ferroelectric films opens a new perspective to the electric control of magnetism for high


density and low-power memory devices. METHODS First principles calculations are performed based on the density functional theory (DFT) using the projector-augmented wave (PAW) method, which


are implemented in the Vienna _ab initio_ simulation package (VASP)47,48. GGA + U method53 with effective Coulomb-exchange interaction Ueff = U − J = 3 eV for Ti-_d_ orbitals is employed, in


which U is the Coulomb interaction parameters and J is the exchange interaction parameters. The GGA + U method could better describe the electronic states than GGA and LDA. Careful test


calculations show that a relatively high plane-wave cutoff energy of 500 \(\mathrm{eV}\) and a 7 × 3 × 1 Monkhorst-Pack _k-_point mesh56 give well-converged results and are enough to


accurately describe the electronic properties. A vacuum region of about 20 Å in the direction normal to graphene plane was employed to avoid interaction between adjacent layers. During the


structural optimizations, the supperlattices are fixed, while relaxation takes place in the internal coordinates of atoms. The atomic structures are fully relaxed using the conjugate


gradient method until the Hellmann-Feynman forces on each atom are less than 0.01 \({\rm{e}}{\rm{V}}/\backslash \AA \). The polarization (per unit cell) is estimated from the Born effective


charge method as \(\,P=\frac{e}{{\Omega }_{c}}\sum _{j}{w}_{j}{Z}_{j}^{\ast }\delta {u}_{j}\), in which _P_ denotes the spontaneous polarization along the [001] direction. \({\Omega }_{c}\)


and \(\delta {u}_{j}\) are the primitive cell volume and the displacements of atom relative to the centrosymmetric structure, respectively. Index \(j\) covers all atoms in the unit cell,


weights \({w}_{j}\) are set to1/8 for Pb, 1 for Ti, and 1/2 for O, which represents the number of unit cells that share the atom and \(\,{Z}_{j}^{\ast }\) is the Born effective charge tensor


calculated from density functional perturbation theory57. REFERENCES * Fiebig, M., Lottermoser, T., Frohlich, D., Goltsev, A. V. & Pisarev, R. V. Observation of coupled magnetic and


electric domains. _Nature_ 419, 818–820 (2002). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Wang, J. _et al_. Epitaxial BiFeO3 multiferroic thin film heterostructures. _Science_ 299,


1719–1722 (2003). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Kimura, T. _et al_. Magnetic control of ferroelectric polarization. _Nature_ 426, 55–58 (2003). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS 


Google Scholar  * Scott, J. F. Data storage - Multiferroic memories. _Nat Mater._ 6, 256–257 (2007). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Spaldin, N. A. & Fiebig, M. The


renaissance of magnetoelectric multiferroics. _Science_ 309, 391–392 (2005). Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Hill, N. A. Why are there so few magnetic ferroelectrics? _J. Phys. Chem.


B_ 104, 6694–6709 (2000). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Rondinelli, J. M., Stengel, M. & Spaldin, N. A. Carrier-mediated magnetoelectricity in complex oxide heterostructures. _Nat.


Nanotechnol._ 3, 46–50 (2008). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Matsukura, F., Tokura, Y. & Ohno, H. Control of magnetism by electric fields. _Nat. Nanotechnol._ 10, 209–220


(2015). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Dai, J.-Q., Song, Y.-M. & Zhang, H. Magnetoelectric coupling at the epitaxial Ni/PbTiO3 heterointerface from first principles. _Phys.


B: Condens. Matter_ 456, 383–387 (2015). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Zhang, C. _et al_. Electric field mediated non-volatile tuning magnetism at the single-crystalline


Fe/Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.7Ti0.3O3 interface. _Nanoscale_ 7, 4187–4192 (2015). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Zhang, H., Dai, J.-Q. & Song, Y.-M. Influences of interfacial


terminations on electronic structure and magnetoelectric coupling in Fe/KnbO3 superlattices. _Chem. Phys. Lett._ 619, 163–168 (2015). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Jia, C. L. _et al_.


Mechanism of interfacial magnetoelectric coupling in composite multiferroics. _Phys. Rev. B_ 90, 054423 (2014). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Duan, C.-G., Jaswal, S. S. &


Tsymbal, E. Y. Predicted magnetoelectric effect in Fe/BaTiO3 multilayers: Ferroelectric control of magnetism. _Phys. Rev. Lett._ 97, 047201 (2006). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar


  * Valencia, S. _et al_. Interface-induced room-temperature multiferroicity in BaTiO3. _Nat. Mater._ 10, 753–758 (2011). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Radaelli, G. _et al_.


Electric control of magnetism at the Fe/BaTiO3 interface. _Nat. Commun._ 5, 3404 (2014). Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Shimada, T. _et al_. Multiferroic grain boundaries in


oxygen-deficient ferroelectric lead titanate. _Nano Lett._ 15, 27–33 (2015). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Shimada, T. _et al_. Multiferroic vacancies at ferroelectric PbTiO3


surfaces. _Phys. Rev. Lett._ 115, 107202 (2015). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Naumov, I. I., Bellaiche, L. & Fu, H. X. Unusual phase transitions in ferroelectric


nanodisks and nanorods. _Nature_ 432, 737–740 (2004). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Polking, M. J. _et al_. Ferroelectric order in individual nanometre-scale crystals. _Nature


Mater._ 11, 700–709 (2012). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Junquera, J. & Ghosez, P. Critical thickness for ferroelectricity in perovskite ultrathin films. _Nature_ 422, 506–509


(2003). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Puggioni, D., Giovannetti, G. & Rondinelli, J. M. Polar metals as electrodes to suppress the critical-thickness limit in


ferroelectric nanocapacitors. arXiv preprint arXiv:1611.06300 (2016). * Geneste, G., Bousquet, E., Junquera, J. & Ghosez, P. Finite-size effects in BaTiO3 nanowires. _Appl. Phys. Lett._


88, 112906 (2006). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Gerra, G., Tagantsev, A. K., Setter, N. & Parlinski, K. Ionic polarizability of conductive metal oxides and critical thickness for


ferroelectricity in BaTiO3. _Phys. Rev. Lett._ 96, 107603 (2006). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Stengel, M., Vanderbilt, D. & Spaldin, N. A. Enhancement of


ferroelectricity at metal–oxide interfaces. _Nature Mater._ 8, 392–397 (2009). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Tenne, D. A. _et al_. Probing nanoscale ferroelectricity by ultraviolet


Raman spectroscopy. _Science_ 313, 1614–1616 (2006). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Sai, N., Fennie, C. J. & Demkov, A. A. Absence of critical thickness in an ultrathin


improper ferroelectric film. _Phys. Rev. Lett._ 102, 107601 (2009). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Zhang, Y., Li, G.-P., Shimada, T., Wang, J. & Kitamura, T. Disappearance


of ferroelectric critical thickness in epitaxial ultrathin BaZrO3 films. _Phys. Rev. B_ 90, 184107 (2014). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Lichtensteiger, C., Triscone, J. M., Junquera,


J. & Ghosez, P. Ferroelectricity and tetragonality in ultrathin PbTiO3 films. _Phys. Rev. Lett._ 94, 047603 (2005). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Despont, L. _et al_.


Direct evidence for ferroelectric polar distortion in ultrathin lead titanate perovskite films. _Phys. Rev. B_ 73, 094110 (2006). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Boukhvalov, D. W.,


Katsnelson, M. I. & Lichtenstein, A. I. Hydrogen on graphene: electronic structure, total energy, structural distortions and magnetism from first-principles calculations. _Phys. Rev. B_


77, 035427 (2008). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Zhou, J. _et al_. Ferromagnetism in semihydrogenated graphene sheet. _Nano Lett._ 9, 3867–3870 (2009). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS 


Google Scholar  * Yazyev, O. V. & Helm, L. Defect-induced magnetism in graphene. _Phys. Rev. B_ 75, 125408 (2007). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Okada, S. Energetics of nanoscale


graphene ribbons: Edge geometries and electronic structures. _Phys. Rev. B_ 77, 041408 (2008). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Zanella, I., Fagan, S. B., Mota, R. & Fazzio, A.


Electronic and magnetic properties of Ti and Fe on graphene. _J. Phys. Chem. C_ 112, 9163–9167 (2008). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Sevincli, H., Topsakal, M., Durgun, E. & Ciraci, S.


Electronic and magnetic properties of 3d transition-metal atom adsorbed graphene and graphene nanoribbons. _Phys. Rev. B_ 77, 195434 (2008). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Zheng, Y.


_et al_. Gate-controlled nonvolatile graphene-ferroelectric memory. _Appl. Phys. Lett._ 94, 3119215 (2009). Google Scholar  * Hong, X. _et al_. Unusual resistance hysteresis in n-layer


graphene field effect transistors fabricated on ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3. _Appl. Phys. Lett._ 97, 3467450 (2010). Google Scholar  * Song, E. B. _et al_. Robust bi-stable memory


operation in single-layer graphene ferroelectric memory. _Appl. Phys. Lett._ 99, 3619816 (2011). Google Scholar  * Zheng, Y. _et al_. Graphene field-effect transistors with ferroelectric


gating. _Phys. Rev. Lett._ 105, 166602 (2010). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Jie, W. _et al_. Ferroelectric polarization effects on the transport properties of graphene/PMN-PT


field effect transistors. _J. Phys. Chem. C_ 117, 13747–13752 (2013). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Wang, X., Xie, W. & Xu, J.-B. Graphene based non-volatile memory devices. _Adv.


Mater._ 26, 5496–5503 (2014). Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Ni, G.-X. _et al_. Graphene-ferroelectric hybrid structure for flexible transparent electrodes. _ACS Nano_ 6, 3935–3942


(2012). Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Jie, W. & Hao, J. Graphene-based hybrid structures combined with functional materials of ferroelectrics and semiconductors. _Nanoscale_ 6,


6346–6362 (2014). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Baeumer, C. _et al_. Ferroelectrically driven spatial carrier density modulation in graphene. _Nat. Commun._ 6, 7136 (2015).


Article  Google Scholar  * Yusuf, M. H., Nielsen, B., Dawber, M. & Du, X. Extrinsic and intrinsic charge trapping at the graphene/ferroelectric interface. _Nano Lett._ 14, 5437–5444


(2014). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Zanolli, Z. Graphene-multiferroic interfaces for spintronics applications. _Sci. Rep._ 6, 31346 (2016). Article  ADS  PubMed  PubMed


Central  CAS  Google Scholar  * Kresse, G. & Hafner, J. Ab-initio molecular-dynamics for open-shell transition-metals. _Phys. Rev. B_ 48, 13115–13118 (1993). Article  ADS  CAS  Google


Scholar  * Kresse, G. & Furthmuller, J. Efficient iterative schemes for ab initio total-energy calculations using a plane-wave basis set. _Phys. Rev. B_ 54, 11169–11186 (1996). Article 


ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Polanco, M. A. M. _et al_. Stabilization of highly polarized PbTiO3 nanoscale capacitors due to in-plane symmetry breaking at the interface. _Phys. Rev. B_ 85,


214107 (2012). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Gerra, G. _et al_. Ionic polarizability of conductive metal oxides and critical thickness for ferroelectricity in BaTiO3. _Phys. Rev.


Lett._ 96, 107603 (2006). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Rault, J. _et al_. Thickness-dependent polarization of strained BiFeO3 films with constant tetragonality. _Phys. Rev.


Lett._ 109, 267601 (2012). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Dai, J. Q., Song, Y. M. & Zhang, H. Enhancement of magnetoelectric effect by combining different interfacial


coupling mechanisms. _J. Appl. Phys._ 111, 114301 (2012). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Dudarev, S. L., Botton, G. A., Savrasov, S. Y., Humphreys, C. J. & Sutton, A. P.


Electron-energy-loss spectra and the structural stability of nickel oxide: an LSD+U study. _Phys. Rev. B_ 57, 1505 (1998). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  * Dawber, M. _et al_. Tailoring


the properties of artificially layered ferroelectric superlattices. _Adv. Mater._ 19, 4153–4159 (2007). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Perdew, J. P. _et al_. Restoring the density-gradient


expansion for exchange in solids and surfaces. _Phys. Rev. Lett._ 100, 136406 (2008). Article  ADS  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar  * Monkhorst, H. J. & Pack, J. D. Special points for


Brillouin-zone integrations. _Phys. Rev. B_ 13, 5188 (1976). Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar  * Gajdos, M., Hummer, K., Kresse, G., Furthmuller, J. & Bechstedt, F. Linear


optical properties in the projector-augmented wave methodology. _Phys. Rev. B_ 73, 045112 (2006). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was


financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11672264, 11472242, 11621062), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. LZ17A020001) and


the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2018XZZX001-05). Computations were performed at the National Supercomputing Center in Tianjing, China. PhG


acknowledges partial support from F.R.S-FNRS PRD project HiT4FiT, ARC project AIMED and ERA.net project SIOX. AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * Jie Wang and Yajun Zhang contributed equally.


AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Engineering Mechanics & Key Laboratory of Soft Machines and Smart Devices of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, 38 Zheda Road, Hangzhou,


310007, China Jie Wang, Yajun Zhang & M. P. K. Sahoo * Theoretical Materials Physics, Q-MAT, CESAM, University of Liège, B-4000, Liège, Belgium Yajun Zhang & Philippe Ghosez *


Department of Mechanical Engineering and Science, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, 615-8540, Japan Takahiro Shimada & Takayuki Kitamura * Shanghai University Materials Genome


Institute and Shanghai Materials Genome Institute, Shanghai University, 99 Shangda Road, Shanghai, 200444, China Tong-Yi Zhang Authors * Jie Wang View author publications You can also search


for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Yajun Zhang View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * M. P. K. Sahoo View author publications You can


also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Takahiro Shimada View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Takayuki Kitamura View author


publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Philippe Ghosez View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Tong-Yi


Zhang View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS J.W. and Y.J.Z. conceived and designed the study. Y.J.Z. performed the calculations


and interpreted the data. M.P.K.S. and T.S. supported the calculations and discussed the results. T.K., Ph.G. and T.Y.Z provided critical feedback on the manuscript. All authors discussed


the results and commented on the manuscript. J.W. and Y.J.Z. wrote the article with comments from all authors. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Jie Wang. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING


INTERESTS The authors declare no competing interests. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and


institutional affiliations. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS OPEN ACCESS This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0


International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the


source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative


Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by


statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit


http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Wang, J., Zhang, Y., Sahoo, M.P.K. _et al._ Giant magnetoelectric effect at the


graphone/ferroelectric interface. _Sci Rep_ 8, 12448 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30010-x Download citation * Received: 13 April 2018 * Accepted: 16 July 2018 * Published: 20


August 2018 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30010-x SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a


shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative


Trending News

Richard Wachman | Page 4 of 90 | The Guardian

Richard WachmanRichard Wachman is a freelance business writer. Previously he was City editor for the ObserverNovember 20...

Javascript support required...

Bradley walsh net worth: doctor who star has huge fortune

Bradley Walsh is known by many as the longstanding host of ITV game show, The Chase. He has turned his hand to different...

Car t-cell therapy for the management of refractory/relapsed high-grade b-cell lymphoma: a practical overview

ABSTRACT The goal of this review is to firstly address the concept of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) ther...

Universal spectrum identifier for mass spectra

ABSTRACT Mass spectra provide the ultimate evidence to support the findings of mass spectrometry proteomics studies in p...

Latests News

Giant magnetoelectric effect at the graphone/ferroelectric interface

ABSTRACT Multiferroic heterostructures combining ferromagnetic and ferroelectric layers are promising for applications i...

Trailblazers for the family hubs and start for life programme

* Department of Health & Social Care * Department for Education Guidance TRAILBLAZERS FOR THE FAMILY HUBS AND START ...

Publisher correction: micelles from gemini

Correction to: _Nature Nanotechnology_ https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-019-0431-0, published online 2 April 2019. In the ...

The page you were looking for doesn't exist.

You may have mistyped the address or the page may have moved.By proceeding, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and our ...

‘your self-worth is skewed’ - meghan markle hits out at social media

The Duchess made the comments whilst visiting mental health workers in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, with her ...

Top