Strain-mediated parallel to antiparallel magnetic switching of twisted LSMO bilayers on PMN-PT

Strain-mediated magnetoelectric (ME) coupling in ferroelectric (FE) and ferromagnetic (FM) heterostructures provides an exciting path towards the development of next-generation memory storage and sensing technologies. This proposal aims to use Polarized Neutron Reflectometry (PNR) to investigate ME coupling in twisted bilayers of La(1-x)Sr(x)MnO3 (LSMO) membranes stacked on a substrate of the giant piezoelectric (1-x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-(x)PbTiO3 (PMN-xPT). The piezo-driven coupling between the LSMO bilayers and PMN-PT will switch the LSMO magnetic moments from a parallel state to an anti-parallel state, which will be measured using PNR. This strain-mediated switching does not rely on the use of external factors (such as shape anisotropy) or a multi-step voltage application process and should garner broad interest in the multiferroic research community.