PI: a.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Gunther Springholz

Project duration: 01.06.2018-31.05.2021

Multiferroics are new materials with outstanding physical properties, combining ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity, and for this reasson they are highly interesting for novel electronic applications such as sensors and programmable logic and data storage systems. Magnetically doped alloys based on GeTe with integrated transition metal atoms like manganese, chromium or vanadium are attractive materials for the realisation of multiferroic systems. This is based on the fact that the germanium atomsare responsible for the ferroelectricity, whereas the mangane or chromium atoms induce the ferromegnetism by a wide-range order of the magnetic moments. Of specific interest is the coupling between ferromegnetism and ferroelectricity in these materials, whose properties have not been much investigated so far. 

The goal of this research project is to fabricate thin layers of these novel multiferroic compounds and to establish a platform for the control of their magnetic and electric properties. In particular, we would like to show how the ferromagnetic and ferroelectric properties as well as their coupling can be tuned independently and the corrspondent phase transition temperatures can be increased, which is important for potential applications. Our investigations aim to observe new physical effects and to develop some understanding for the underlying mechanism, by using a wide variety of experimental and theoretical methods in cooperation with international research partners. This will allow us to cover all aspects of material development, thin film growth, magnetic doping, structural analysis, microscopy, and synchrotron radiation investigations based on theoretical modelling.