Pressure tuning of coercivity states in quenched FeRh magnetic heterostructures

Control over coercivity of magnetic materials (e.g. Fe, Ni, Co) in bulk or thin films can be achieved by using compounds which undergo a structural phase transition[1,2]. The transition temperatures of these materials are sensitive to externally applied pressure. We show that this translates well to the coercivity change of the magnetic materials in close proximity which renders pressure an additional tuning parameter for the coercivity control.
We recorded magnetization curves and hysteresis loops as a function of temperature and pressure with a standard magnetometer and a pressure cell for magnetic measurements to study systematically the role of pressures up to 1.3 GPa in quenched FeRh/BTO thin films.