The electric and magnetic properties of (BaTiO3)n/(CaMnO3)n short-period superlattices are studied by the first-principles calculations. The local electric polarizations in the CaMnO3 layers are significant, comparable to that in the BaTiO3 layers. Remarkably, the electric polarization is almost doubled when the spin configuration changes from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic in the superlattices, indicating a giant magnetoelectric coupling. This enhancement of the magnetoelectric coupling is due to the suppression of the antiferrodistortive mode in the CaMnO3 layers at the interfaces.
@article{arxiv.1107.4404,
title = {Interface induced giant magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroic superlattices},
author = {Hongwei Wang and Lixin He and Xifan Wu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1107.4404},
year = {2015}
}