Electric-field control of ferromagnetism (original) (raw)

Nature volume 408, pages 944–946 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

It is often assumed that it is not possible to alter the properties of magnetic materials once they have been prepared and put into use. For example, although magnetic materials are used in information technology to store trillions of bits (in the form of magnetization directions established by applying external magnetic fields), the properties of the magnetic medium itself remain unchanged on magnetization reversal. The ability to externally control the properties of magnetic materials would be highly desirable from fundamental and technological viewpoints, particularly in view of recent developments in magnetoelectronics and spintronics1,2. In semiconductors, the conductivity can be varied by applying an electric field, but the electrical manipulation of magnetism has proved elusive. Here we demonstrate electric-field control of ferromagnetism in a thin-film semiconducting alloy, using an insulating-gate field-effect transistor structure. By applying electric fields, we are able to vary isothermally and reversibly the transition temperature of hole-induced ferromagnetism.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

$199.00 per year

only $3.90 per issue

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Prinz, G. A. Magnetoelectronics. Science 282, 1660–1663 (1998).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  2. de Boeck, J. & Borghs, G. Magnetoelectronics. Phys. World 12, 27–32 (1999).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  3. Ohno, H., Munekata, H., Penney, T., von Molnár, S. & Chang, L. L. Magnetotransport properties of p-type (In,Mn)As diluted magnetic III-V semiconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 2664–2667 (1992).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  4. Munekata, H., Zaslavsky, A., Fumagalli, P. & Gambino, R. J. Preparation of (In,Mn)As/(Ga,Al)Sb magnetic semiconductor heterostructures and their ferromagnetic characteristics. Appl. Phys. Lett. 63, 2929–2931 (1993).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  5. Ohno, H. Making nonmagnetic semiconductors ferromagnetic. Science 281, 951–956 (1998).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  6. Ohno, H. Properties of ferromagnetic III-V semiconductors. J. Mag. Magn. Mater. 200, 110–129 (1999).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  7. Koshihara, S. et al. Ferromagnetic order induced by photogenerated carriers in magnetic III-V semiconductor heterostructures of (In,Mn)As/GaSb. Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 4617–4620 (1997).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  8. Munekata, H. et al. Diluted magnetic III-V semiconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 63, 1849–1852 (1989).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  9. Soo, Y. L., Huang, S. W., Ming, Z. H., Kao, Y. H. & Munekata, H. III-V diluted magnetic semiconductor: Substitutional doping of Mn in InAs. Phys. Rev. B 53, 4905–4909 (1996).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  10. Dietl, T., Ohno, H., Matsukura, F., Cibert, J. & Ferrand, D. Zener model description of ferromagnetism in zinc-blende magnetic semiconductors. Science 287, 1019–1022 (2000).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  11. von Molnár, S., Munekata, H., Ohno, H. & Chang, L. L. New diluted magnetic semiconductor based on III-V compounds. J. Mag. Magn. Mater. 93, 356–364 (1991).
    Article ADS Google Scholar
  12. Shen, A. et al. Epitaxy and properties of InMnAs/AlGaSb diluted magnetic III-V semiconductor heterostructures. Appl. Surf. Sci. 113/114 183–188 (1997).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  13. Chien, C. L. & Westgate, C. W. The Hall Effect and Its Applications 43–51 (Plenum, New York, 1980).
    Book Google Scholar
  14. Arrott, A. Criterion for ferromagnetism from observations of magnetic isotherms. Phys. Rev. 108, 1394–1395 (1957).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  15. Dietl, T., Haury, A. & Merle d'Aubigné, Y. Free carrier-induced ferromagnetism in structures of diluted magnetic semiconductors. Phys. Rev. B 55, R3347–R3350 (1997).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  16. Lee, B., Jungwirth, T. & MacDonald, A. H. Theory of ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum wells. Phys. Rev. B 61, 15606–15609 (2000).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  17. Fiederling, R. et al. Injection and detection of a spin-polarized current in a light-emitting diode. Nature 402, 787–790 (1999).
    Article ADS Google Scholar
  18. Ohno, Y. et al. Electrical spin injection in a ferromagnetic semiconductor heterostructure. Nature 402, 790–792 (1999).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  19. Loss, D. & DiVincenzo, D. P. Quantum computation with quantum dots. Phys. Rev. A 57, 120–126 (1998).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  20. Vrijen, R. et al. Electron-spin-resonance transistors for quantum computing in silicon-germanium heterostructures. Phys. Rev. A 62, 012306-1–10 (2000).
    Article ADS Google Scholar

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Ministry of Education, Japan, and the Mitsubishi Foundation.

Author information

Author notes

  1. T. Dietl
    Present address: Institute of Physics and College of Science, Polish Academy of Sciences, al. Lotników 32/46, PL-02668, Warszawa, Poland
  2. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to H.O..

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Electronic Intelligent Systems, Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Katahira 2-1-1, Aoba-ku, 980-8577, Sendai, Japan
    H. Ohno, D. Chiba, F. Matsukura, T. Omiya, E. Abe, T. Dietl, Y. Ohno & K. Ohtani

Authors

  1. H. Ohno
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  2. D. Chiba
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  3. F. Matsukura
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  4. T. Omiya
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  5. E. Abe
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  6. T. Dietl
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  7. Y. Ohno
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  8. K. Ohtani
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ohno, H., Chiba, D., Matsukura, F. et al. Electric-field control of ferromagnetism.Nature 408, 944–946 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35050040

Download citation

Associated content