Switching ferroelectric domain configurations using both electric and magnetic fields in Pb(Zr,Ti)O3-Pb(Fe,Ta)O3 single-crystal lamellae.

Thin single-crystal lamellae cut from Pb(Zr,Ti)O3-Pb(Fe,Ta)O3 ceramic samples have been integrated into simple coplanar capacitor devices. The influence of applied electric and magnetic fields on ferroelectric domain configurations has been mapped, using piezoresponse force microscopy. The extent to which magnetic fields alter the ferroelectric domains was found to be strongly history dependent: after switching had been induced by applying electric fields, the susceptibility of the domains to change under a magnetic field (the effective magnetoelectric coupling parameter) was large. Such large, magnetic field-induced changes resulted in a remanent domain state very similar to the remanent state induced by an electric field. Subsequent magnetic field reversal induced more modest ferroelectric switching.