A strong ferroelectric ferromagnet created by means of spin–lattice coupling

Multiferroics made easier Ferroelectric ferromagnets, or multiferroics, are of significant technological interest because they combine the low power and high speed of field-effect electronics with the permanence and routability of voltage-controlled ferromagnetism. Unfortunately, they are rare, and those that do exist have ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties that are typically weak compared with conventional useful ferroelectrics and ferromagnets. A new route to fabricating multiferroics was recently predicted: in theory, magnetically ordered insulators that are neither ferroelectric nor ferromagnetic — of which there are many — can be turned into ferroelectric multiferroics by strain from the underlying substrate. June Hyuk Lee et al. now realize this route experimentally for EuTiO3. Their demonstration that a single experimental parameter, strain, can simultaneously control multiple order parameters opens up exciting possibilities for creating useful multiferroic materials.