SPINTRONICS Electric toggling of magnets

Several researchers showed that electric-field-induced toggle switching of nanoscale thin-film magnets ensures the energy-efficient magnetic data storage. Wang and colleagues and Shiota and colleagues have demonstrated an electric-field-induced toggle switching of nanoscale thin-film magnets by detecting resistance changes in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ). The discoveries rely on the interface magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) of a magnetic film that alters in response to an applied electric field. The MCA is largely determined by the relative occupation of the electronic orbitals and is altered with the application of an electric field. Wang and colleagues showed that the electrically controlled MCA could be used to reverse the perpendicular-to-plane magnetization of a CoFeB film. Shiota and colleagues used a different approach. They employed magnetization rotation in the changing anisotropy field produced by electrical pulses of a specific duration.