Electric-Anisotropy-Controlled Phase Transitions and Hysteresis in a Ferroelectric/Ferrimagnetic Bilayer with Three-State Ferroelectricity

Abstract

We investigate a ferrimagnetic/ferroelectric bilayer in which a mixed-spin Heisenberg ferrimagnet is coupled to a three-state ferroelectric layer allowing for a nonpolar state. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we analyze how magnetic and electric single-ion anisotropies, together with interfacial magnetoelectric coupling, control phase transitions and hysteresis properties. We show that electric anisotropy, by tuning the population of nonpolar ferroelectric sites, strongly shifts the ferrimagnetic critical temperature, while magnetic anisotropy reciprocally affects the ferroelectric transition. Increasing the magnetoelectric coupling enhances both ordering temperatures and may induce a common transition. At fixed temperature, magnetic and electric hysteresis loops evolve from square to slim and nearly reversible shapes as anisotropies are varied. These results highlight the relevance of three-state ferroelectricity for describing polarization suppression and tunable magnetoelectric response in hybrid bilayers.