Effects of film thickness and mismatch strains on magnetoelectric coupling in vertical heteroepitaxial nanocomposite thin films

The phase field model is adopted to study the magnetoelectric coupling effects in vertical heteroepitaxial nanocomposite thin films. Both the lateral epitaxial strains between the film and the substrate and the vertical epitaxial strains between the ferroelectric and ferromagnetic phases are accounted for in the model devised. The effects of the film thickness on the magnetic-field-induced electric polarization (MIEP) are investigated. The results obtained show that the MIEP is strongly dependent on the film thickness, as well as on the vertical and lateral epitaxial strains. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3583599]