R&D: Magnetoelectric Write and Read Operations in Stress-Mediated Multiferroic Memory Cell

Applied Physics Letter has published an article written by Alexey Klimov, Joint International Laboratory LIA LICS: V. A. Kotel’nikov Institute of Radioeng. and Electronics (IRE RAS), ul. Mokhovaya 11/7, Moscow 125009, Russia, Joint International Laboratory LIA LICS: University Lille, CNRS, Centrale Lille, ISEN, University Valenciennes, UMR 8520 – IEMN, F-59000 Lille, France, and Joint International Laboratory LIA LICS: Moscow Technological University (MIREA) Vernadsky Avenue 78, Moscow 119454, Russia, Nicolas Tiercelin, Yannick Dusch, Stefano Giordano, Théo Mathurin, Philippe Pernod, Joint International Laboratory LIA LICS: University Lille, CNRS, Centrale Lille, ISEN, University Valenciennes, UMR 8520 – IEMN, F-59000 Lille, France, Vladimir Preobrazhensky, Joint International Laboratory LIA LICS: University Lille, CNRS, Centrale Lille, ISEN, University Valenciennes, UMR 8520 – IEMN, F-59000 Lille, France, and Joint International Laboratory LIA LICS: Wave Research Center, A.M.Prokhorov GPI, RAS, ul. Vavilova 38, Moscow 119991, Russia, Anton Churbanov, and Sergei Nikitov, Joint International Laboratory LIA LICS: V. A. Kotel’nikov Institute of Radioeng. and Electronics (IRE RAS), ul. Mokhovaya 11/7, Moscow 125009, Russia, and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Institutskiy lane, 9, 141700, Russia.

MELRAM cell and electric scheme
for magnetic state identification

Abstract: ” Magnetic memory cells associated with the stress-mediated magnetoelectric effect promise extremely low bit-writing energies. Most investigations have focused on the process of writing information in memory cells, and very few on readout schemes. The usual assumption is that the readout will be achieved using magnetoresistive structures such as Giant Magneto-Resistive stacks or Magnetic Tunnel Junctions. Since the writing energy is very low in the magnetoelectric systems, the readout energy using magnetoresistive approaches becomes non negligible. Incidentally, the magneto-electric interaction itself contains the potentiality of the readout of the information encoded in the magnetic subsystem. In this letter, the principle of magnetoelectric readout of the information by an electric field in a composite multiferroic heterostructure is considered theoretically and demonstrated experimentally using [ N ×(TbCo 2 / FeCo ) ] / [ Pb ( Mg 1 / 3 Nb 2 / 3 ) O 3 ] ( 1 − x ) − [ PbTiO 3 ] x stress-mediated ME heterostructures.”