Inverted shear-strain magnetoelastic coupling at the Fe/BaTiO3 interface from polarised x-ray imaging

Francesco Maccherozzi (), Massimo Ghidini, Mary Vickers, Xavier Moya, Stuart A. Cavill, Hebatalla Elnaggar, Anne D. Lamirand, Neil D. Mathur and Sarnjeet S. Dhesi ()
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Francesco Maccherozzi: Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
Massimo Ghidini: Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
Mary Vickers: University of Cambridge
Xavier Moya: University of Cambridge
Stuart A. Cavill: University of York
Hebatalla Elnaggar: Utrecht University
Anne D. Lamirand: Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CPE Lyon, INL, UMR5270
Neil D. Mathur: University of Cambridge
Sarnjeet S. Dhesi: Harwell Science and Innovation Campus

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The elastic degree of freedom is widely exploited to mediate magnetoelectric coupling between ferromagnetic films and ferroelectric substrates. For epitaxial Fe films grown on clean BaTiO3 substrates, shear strain can determine the underlying magnetoelastic coupling. Here, we use PhotoEmission Electron Microscopy of ferroic Fe and BaTiO3 domains, combined with micromagnetic simulations, to directly reveal an inverted interfacial magnetoelastic coupling in the low-dimensional limit. We show that the magnetocrystalline anisotropy competes with the epitaxial shear strain to align the local magnetization of ultrathin Fe films close to the local polarization direction of the ferroelectric BaTiO3 in-plane domains. Poling the BaTiO3 substrate creates c-domains with no shear strain contribution with the local magnetization rotated by ~45°. Tuning shear strain magnetoelastic contributions suggests new routes for designing magnetoelectric devices.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62978-2

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