Giant Nonvolatile Electric Field Control of Proximity-Induced Magnetism in the Spin–Orbit Semimetal SrIrO3

Abstract

With its potential for drastically reduced operation power of information processing devices, electric field control of magnetism has generated huge research interest. Recently, novel perspectives offered by the inherently large spin–orbit coupling of 5d transition metals have emerged. Here, nonvolatile electrical control of the proximity-induced magnetism in SrIrO3 based back-gated heterostructures is demonstrated. Up to a 700% variation of the anomalous Hall conductivity (σAHE) and Hall angle (ΘAHE) as function of the applied gate voltage Vg is reported. In contrast, the Curie temperature TC ≈ 100 K and magnetic anisotropy of the system remain essentially unaffected by Vg indicating a robust ferromagnetic state in SrIrO3 which strongly hints to gating-induced changes of the anomalous Berry curvature. The electric-field induced ferroelectric-like state of SrTiO3 enables nonvolatile switching behavior of σAHE and ΘAHE below 60 K. The large tunability of this system, opens new avenues toward efficient electric-field manipulation of magnetism.