Cover：Multiferroelectric tunnel junctions (MFTJs), consisting of two ferromagnetic (FM) electrodes separated by a nanoscale ferroelectric (FE) barrier, exploiting the capability to control FM and FE orders via external electric and magnetic fields simultaneously, have potential applications not only in multi-state data storage due to the coexsistence of tunneling magnetoresistance and tunneling electroresistance effects, but also in electric field controlled spintronics as a result of the interfacial magnetoelectric coupling effect. For a long time, the ferroelectricity has been thought to survive only in thicker samples, limiting its use in tunnel barrier. Until recently, with the development of several characterization techniques, e.g., piezoresponse force microscopy, the ferroelectricity of perovskite ferroelectric oxide was confirmed to persist down to the nanometer scale, which makes it possible to use perovskite ferroelectrics as tunnel barriers. More details could be found in the article “Multiferroic tunnel junctions” by Yue-Wei Yin et al., pp 380－385. [Photo credits: Dr. Yue-Wei Yin at Pennsylvania State University & University of Science and Technology of China]

Contents: