AlN nitride is a large-band-gap polar material that has gained interest due to its ability to become ferroelectric and its compatibility with Si- and GaN-based technologies. This compound could, therefore, be a good candidate to design new artificial multiferroics if combined with a ferromagnetic electrode. We performed first-principles calculations to investigate the set up of the magnetoelectric coupling at the Co/AlN(0001) interface. Our results describe a complex interfacial atomic structure with variable local magnetic properties as a function of the atom alignment. We predict an average variation of interface spin magnetization, when the polarization is reversed, of 3.83 ${\mu }_{\text{B}} {\mathrm{nm}}^{-2}$, close to the values already reported in the literature at metal/oxide interfaces. This confirms the potential of this AlN-based ferroelectric compound to be used in future voltage-controlled spintronic devices.

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• Density of states
• Ferroelectricity
• Magnetoelectric effect
• Surface & interfacial phenomena