Progress in the Development of Single-Phase Magnetoelectric Multiferroic Oxides

Magnetoelectric (ME) multiferroics manifesting the coexistence and the coupling of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric order are appealing widespread interest owing to their fascinating physical behaviors and possible novel applications. In this review, we highlight the progress in single-phase ME multiferroic oxides research in terms of the classification depending on the physical origins of ferroic properties and the corresponding examples for each case, i.e., material by material, along with their ME multiferroic properties including saturation magnetization, spontaneous polarization, (anti)ferromagnetic/ferroelectric transition temperature, and ME coefficient. The magnetoelectrically-active applications of high expectancy are presented by citing the representative examples such as magnetoelectric random-access-memory and multiferroic photovoltaics. Furthermore, we discuss how the development of ME multiferroic oxides should proceed by considering the current research status in terms of developed materials and designed applications. We believe that this short review will provide a basic introduction for the researchers new to this field.