Visible Light Effects on Photostrictive/Magnetostrictive PMN‐PT/Ni Heterostructure (Adv. Mater. Interfaces 36/2022)

Reversible optical control of magnetism in engineered artificial multiferroics

“…It is well-known that PMN-PT exhibits photostriction when it is illuminated with UV light as a result of a converse piezoresponse induced by the photovoltage engendered by the bulk photovoltaic effect. 3,4 Two crucial facts should be taken into account: (i) although piezoelectric materials have large mechanical response to electric fields, the visible-light-driven deformation will not be activated if they do not have an appropriate domain structure containing charged domain walls; (ii) even in ferroelectrics with charged domain walls, large light-driven anisotropic deformation is obtained only when an adequate domain configuration is designed. As hypothesis, other ferroelectric materials exhibiting stripe-shaped charged domain walls may manifest visible-light-induced strain.…”

“…Light-induced control of magnetism is a promising technology for the implementation of novel magnetoelectronic devices because it is a non-contact actuation method that entails ultralow power dissipation. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Unfortunately, deterministic and reversible control of magnetic properties using light has proven to be challenging and, so far, restricted to a few specific materials with still limited commercial viability. 8 For this reason, the scientific community has turned its attention to multiferroic materials which are highly appealing owing to their magnetoelastic and magnetoelectric properties.…”