Control of the Magnetic Configuration of Ferromagnetic Nanostructures Across the Structural Phase Transition of Vanadium Dioxide

We investigate the effect of the structural phase transition in VO
₂
in magnetoelastically coupled heterostructures of VO
₂
and Ni. Continuous and nano-patterned Ni layers were used, and we found reversible and reproducible magnetic domain switching induced by the VO
₂
structural phase transition. The magnetic states of the nano-patterned ferromagnetic elements were dominated by topographic features which generated strong pinning but still allowed for a reversible switching between the states. Our measurements constitute a key step for the use of the VO
₂
phase transition for ultrafast dynamical studies of the inverse mangetostrictive effect, and eventually employing the effect for ultrafast low-power switching devices.