Hydroxide-based magneto-ionics: electric-field control of a reversible paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic switch in α-Co(OH)₂ films

Magneto-ionics has emerged as a promising approach to manipulate magnetic properties, not only by drastically reducing power consumption associated with electric current based devices but also by enabling novel functionalities. To date, magneto-ionics have been mostly explored in oxygen-based systems, while there is a surge of interest in alternative ionic systems. Here we demonstrate highly effective hydroxide-based magneto-ionics in electrodeposited α-Co(OH)₂ films. The α-Co(OH)₂, which is a room temperature paramagnet, is switched to ferromagnetic after electrolyte gating with a negative voltage. The system is fully, magnetically reversible upon positive voltage application. The origin of the reversible paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic transition is attributed to the ionic diffusion of hydroxyl groups, promoting the formation of metallic cobalt ferromagnetic regions. Our findings demonstrate one of the lowest turn-on voltages reported for propylene carbonate gated experiments. By tuning the voltage magnitude and sample area we demonstrate that the speed of the induced ionic effect can be drastically enhanced.