Bistable Magnetism and Potential for Voltage-Induced Spin Crossover in Dilute Magnetic Ferroelectrics

A first-principles investigation into the magnetic ferroelectric PbTi(1-x)Co(x)O(3) has revealed a bi-stable magnetic system with strong spin-lattice coupling. The local distortions induced by the low-spin to high-spin crossover are ferroelectric in nature, and are characterized by the displacement of the dopant ion with respect to the surrounding O(6) octahedral cage. We demonstrate how this spin-lattice effect could mediate magnetoelectric coupling and possible electric field induced spin-crossover, indicating a promising route to voltage manipulation of isolated spins in a solid-state system.