Metastable Co3Mn/Fe/Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 multiferroic heterostructures

Using a molecular beam epitaxy technique, we experimentally demonstrate a multiferroic heterostructure consisting of metastable ferromagnetic Co 3Mn on piezoelectric Pb(Mg 1 / 3Nb 2 / 3)O 3–PbTiO 3 (PMN-PT). Inserting a 2-nm-thick Fe layer between Co 3Mn and PMN-PT(001) allows the formation of bcc Co 3Mn layers even at an extremely low growth temperature of ∼ 80 °C. Upon increasing this temperature to 200 °C, a bcc Co 3Mn/Fe/PMN-PT(001) multiferroic heterostructure with a relatively large saturation magnetization of ∼ 1680 kA/m and an atomically flat interface is obtained, resulting in an obvious converse magnetoelectric (CME) effect. The large CME effect originates mainly from the strain-induced modulation of the magnetic anisotropy energy, supported by the first-principles calculations.