Impact of magnetization and hyperfine field distribution on high magnetoelectric coupling strength in BaTiO3-BiFeO3 multilayers

Correlations were established between the hyperfine field distribution around the Fe atoms, the multiferroic properties, and the high magnetoelectric coefficient in BaTiO3-BiFeO3 multilayer stacks with variable BiFeO3 single layer thickness, down to 5 nm. Of key importance in this study was the deposition of Fe-57 - enriched BiFeO3, which enhances the sensitivity of conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy by orders of magnitude. The magnetoelectric coefficient alpha(ME) reaches a maximum of 60.2 V cm(-1) Oe(-1) at 300 K and at a DC bias field of 2 Tesla for a sample of 15 x (10 nm BaTiO3-5 nm BiFeO3) and is one of the highest values reported so far. Interestingly, the highest alpha(ME) is connected to a high asymmetry of the hyperfine field distribution of the multilayer composite samples. The possible mechanisms responsible for the strong magnetoelectric coupling are discussed.