B2: Magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroic heterostructures
This project aims at the understanding of the magneto-electric effect on a microscopic level. The magneto-electric effect couples the electric and magnetic degrees of freedom at the common interface of a ferroelectric layer and a ferromagnetic layer. Of particular interest is to proof scientifically that the magnetization in the ferromagnetic layer can be manipulated – or even reversed – by switching the electric polarization in the ferroelectric layer. The effect is analyzed by means of a multiple-code approach which is based on ab initio descriptions within the framework of density-functional theory.
