2020, Wilhelm, Marek, Giesen, Margret, Duchoň, Tomáš, Moors, Marco, Mueller, David N., Hackl, Johanna, Baeumer, Christoph, Hamed, Mai Hussein, Cao, Lei, Zhang, Hengbo, Petracic, Oleg, Glöß, Maria, Cramm, Stefan, Nemšák, Slavomír, Wiemann, Carsten, Dittmann, Regina, Schneider, Claus M., Müller, Martina

Magneto-ionic control of magnetism is a promising route toward the realization of non-volatile memory and memristive devices. Magneto-ionic oxides are particularly interesting for this purpose, exhibiting magnetic switching coupled to resistive switching, with the latter emerging as a perturbation of the oxygen vacancy concentration. Here, we report on electric-field-induced magnetic switching in a La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) thin film. Correlating magnetic and chemical information via photoemission electron microscopy, we show that applying a positive voltage perpendicular to the film surface of LSMO results in the change in the valence of the Mn ions accompanied by a metal-to-insulator transition and a loss of magnetic ordering. Importantly, we demonstrate that the voltage amplitude provides granular control of the phenomena, enabling fine-tuning of the surface electronic structure. Our study provides valuable insight into the switching capabilities of LSMO that can be utilized in magneto-ionic devices. © 2020 Author(s).