Light-driven manipulation of ferroelectric and ferromagnetic domains in a multiferroic heterostructure

We plan on monitoring the motion of ferroelectric and ferromagnetic domains by laser light stimulation on a multiferroic heterostructure consisting of CoFeB magnetic nanostructures epitaxially coupled to a BaTiO3 ferroelectric substrate whose ferroic order is modifiable by light. Light will directly change the ferroelectric structure, and indirectly change the magnetic one (due to the correlation of domain wall position, the dimensional change of the ferroelectric and the inverse magnetostriction effect). To understand the complexities of this multiferroic system in which both ferroic orders are being modified simultaneously, it is mandatory to resort to LEEM-PEEM in order to study in real time the dynamics of the change in both the ferroelectric and magnetic domains upon laser illumination.