First-principles techniques are used to investigate the behavior of BiFeO3/LaFeO3 perovskite oxide superlattices epitaxially grown on a (001)-SrTiO3 substrate. The calculations show that 1/1 superlattices exhibit a Pmc21 ground state combining a trilinear coupling of one polar and two oxygen rotational lattice modes, and weak ferromagnetism. The microscopic mechanism allowing one to manipulate the magnetization with an electric field in such systems is presented and its dependence on strain and chemical substitution is discussed. BiFeO3/LaFeO3 artificial superlattices appear to be good candidates to achieve electric switching of magnetization at room temperature.

Electric control of the magnetization in BiFeO3/LaFeO3 superlattices. Zeila Zanolli, Jacek C. Wojdeł, Jorge Iniguez, and Philippe Ghosez, Phys. Rev. B 88, 060102(R) (2013).

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