Congratulations to Nguyen, who passed her candidacy exam on August 15th.
Magnetoelectric materials have been of interest due to their potential for low-power spintronic devices via the electric field switching of magnetization. While there is a dearth of room temperature magnetoelectrics, one possible candidate is antiferromagnetic Cr2O3, which possesses a perpendicular surface magnetization and has strong exchange interaction with ferromagnetic layers across a common interface.
In this work, we study the growth conditions of epitaxial Cr2O3 thin film on a Pt electrode via Pulsed Laser Deposition. Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) multilayers [Co/Pt]n are used to study the interface exchange and the manipulation of magnetization via magnetoelectric switching. The PMA and Cr2O3 layers will then be customized to reduce coercivity broadening and to enhance exchange bias for optimal magnetoelectric switching. Magneto-transport and magnetometry will be done to evaluate exchange interaction in the structure and its capability for exchange bias switching using electric field.