Progress and prospect in multiferroic heterostructures

The magnetoelectric (ME) coupling effect in multiferroic heterostructures is one of the hottest topics of condensed matter physics and materials science. In comparison with single-phase multiferroic materials, multiferroic heterostructures with complex interactions among spin, charge, orbit, and lattice at the interface display some novel physical phenomena, and show potential applications in a new generation of memory, sensors, and microwave and so on. In this paper, the recent progresses and prospects in multiferroic heterostructures are summarized with emphasis on the strain- or charge-mediated as well as exchange bias effects on the magnetic and transport properties manipulated by electric/magnetic fields. The magnetoelectric coupling effects of multiferroic tunnel junctions which combine the merits both magnetic and ferroelectric tunnel junctions are particularly introduced. The multiferroic tunnel junctions exhibit multi-stable resistance states in a single memory unit cell, and thus increase the memory density. Finally, the current issues and future researches for promising spin, charge as well as strain related data storage in multiferroic heterostructures are discussed.