Reversible manipulation of field-free perpendicular magnetization switching via electric field

Abstract

Electric-field control of magnetization switching holds great promise for the development of spintronic devices due to its intrinsically low power consumption. Here, we demonstrate the efficient and reversible manipulation of field-free perpendicular magnetization switching through the electric-field driven migration of oxygen ions within the Pt/Co/CuOx/MoOx system. The antiferromagnetic CoO layer at the Co/CuOx interface modulated by the gate voltage provides an exchange bias field, enabling field-free current-driven magnetization switching. The field-free switching ratio can be effectively enhanced by applying a negative gate voltage, with the maximum value being 62.7%, which is five times larger than that in the initial state without applying gate voltage. The electric-field driven migration of oxygen ions, causing enhanced/reduced oxidation at the Co/CuOx interface, leads to the reversible tunability of the field-free perpendicular magnetization switching. These results offer an approach to effectively control perpendicular magnetization switching without the need for a magnetic field, holding significant implications for low-power spintronic applications.