BaTiO3 magnetoelectric heterojunction: A density functional theory study

Using ab-initio simulations, we investigated the effects of ferroelectric polarization on the magnetic anisotropy of FePt/BaTiO3 heterojunctions. The changed electronic structure at the interface of FePt and BaTiO3 reduced the magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) under ferroelectric polarization. Through the electronic density of states analysis, it was found that the MAE change is mainly due to the changed hybridization state between d-orbitals of interface Ti and Fe atoms. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC