Electric control of magnetism in low-dimensional magnets on ferroelectric surfaces

Employing first-principles electronic structure calculations, we have studied the electric field controls of magnetism and magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) of the Fe adatoms on ferroelectric BaTiO3 and PbTiO3 surfaces. Remarkably, those effects exhibit dependence of the level of coverage as well as adsorption site of Fe atoms. While the magnitude of MAE is shown tunable by ferroelectric polarization in the full coverage of Fe monolayer, the direction of magnetization undergoes a transition from perpendicular to in-plane for the half or lower coverages. This magnetization reorientation is mainly ascribed to the site-dependent Fe d–O p hybridization, as a consequence of the formation of FeTiO2 layer at the surface.