Magnetoelectricity in Fe/PbTiO3/Fe superlattices

Using the first-principles density functional calculations, we have investigated the magnetoelectric coupling at the Fe/PbTiO3/Fe superlattices by varying the number of ferroelectric PbTiO3 layers. We find that the change of Fe magnetization is electrically tunable, almost linear in the depolarizing field, and occurs very near the superlattice interface region. The maximal magnetoelectric coupling constant in the Fe/PbTiO3/Fe superlattices is estimated to be about 4 × 10−10 G cm2/V, which is quite similar order of magnitude as that recently experimentally achieved in Co (7 nm)/Pb(Zr,Ti)O3.