IRG II: Multifunctional Magnetic Oxides @ University of Maryland

IRG Leader: H. Dennis Drew This IRG is focused on the science and technology of multiferroic transition metal oxides. In multiferroic materials, magnetism and ferroelectricity coexist. The coupling of these two order parameters provide interesting possibilities of increased functionality. They can exhibit large magnetoelectric and magnetoelastic effects, in which magnetic fields can produce an electrical and/or elastic response and vice-versa. Such effects can be used as a basis for a variety of novel device concepts such as a bi-ferroic memory element. We study two types of multiferroic materials: naturally occurring single phase multiferroics such as BiFeO₃ and TbMn₂O₅ and composite multiferroic systems such as CoFe₂O₄-PbTiO₃ grown in thin film form. The former allows the investigation of the fundamental issues in multiferroics while the thin film materials are important because of their flexibility in device configurations.