Eur. Phys. J. B (2017) 90: 188
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2017-80125-5

Regular Article

Role of electrodes materials in determining the interfacial and magnetoelectric properties in BaTiO₃-based multiferroic tunnel junctions

¹ College of Sciences, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, Zhejiang, P.R. China
² School of Physics and Microelectronics Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, Hunan, P.R. China

^a e-mail: caodan@cjlu.edu.cn

Received: 2 March 2017
Received in final form: 5 June 2017
Published online: 11 October 2017

Abstract

Using the first-principles calculations based on density functional theory, the important role of electrode materials in determining the interfacial, ferroelectric stability and magnetoelectric properties in BaTiO₃-based multiferroic tunnel junctions (MFTJs) have been investigated comparatively. It is found that the SrO–TiO₂ interface of MFTJs with oxide electrode SrRuO₃ is the most favorable interfacial structure. The average ferroelectric polarizations of MFTJs with electrode Co, FeCo and SrRuO₃ are 25, 36 and 0 μC/cm², respectively. The using of alloy electrode FeCo is more contributed to ferroelectric stability and the enhancement of magnetoelectric coupling of BaTiO₃-based MFTJs. We expect our findings can provide an essential evaluation for the selection of electrode materials in spintronic storage devices.