Quantitative Determination on Ionic-Liquid-Gating Control of Interfacial Magnetism.

Zhao, Shishun; Zhou, Ziyao; Peng, Bin; Zhu, Mingmin; Feng, Mengmeng; Yang, Qu; Yan, Yuan; Ren, Wei et al. · Adv Mater · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Ionic-liquid gating on a functional thin film with a low voltage has drawn a lot of attention due to rich chemical, electronic, and magnetic phenomena at the interface. Here, a key challenge in quantitative determination of voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) in Au/[DEME]<sup>+</sup> [TFSI]<sup>-</sup> /Co field-effect transistor heterostructures is addressed. The magnetic anisotropy change as response to the gating voltage is precisely detected by in situ electron spin resonance measurements. A reversible change of magnetic anisotropy up to 219 Oe is achieved with a low gating voltage of 1.5 V at room temperature, corresponding to a record high VCMA coefficient of ≈146 Oe V<sup>-1</sup> . Two gating effects, the electrostatic doping and electrochemical reaction, are distinguished at various gating voltage regions, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy experiments. This work shows a unique ionic-liquid-gating system for strong interfacial magnetoelectric coupling with many practical advantages, paving the way toward ion-liquid-gating spintronic/electronic devices.