Electrically driven inverse metamagnetic transition in Sm1-xSrxMnO₃

Electrical control of magnetic order remains one of the fundamental pursuits in condensed matter physics and spintronics, offering transformative potential for energy-efficient, high-density information technologies. While current-induced switching via spin-transfer and spin-orbit torques is well established in ferromagnets, electrically driving a transition between distinct magnetic phases, specifically from a ferromagnetic to an antiferromagnetic state, remains largely unexplored experimentally. Here, we demonstrate a reversible, electrically-driven inverse metamagnetic transition in an epitaxial thin film of the correlated manganite Sm1-xSrxMnO₃. Above a critical current threshold, the system abruptly switches from a low-resistance ferromagnetic state to a high-resistance antiferromagnetic-like phase. We exploit this phenomenon in nanoscale (250 × 250 nm²) spin-filter tunnel junctions based on LaNiO₃/Sm₀.₇₅Sr₀.₂₅MnO₃/ SrTiO₃/La₀.₇Sr₀.₃MnO₃ heterostructures, realizing robust, bistable resistance switching with unconventional magnetoresistance exceeding 200 %, tunable by current, temperature, and magnetic field. These findings open a phase-transition-based route for electrically driven spintronic devices beyond conventional torque-based strategies. Correlated oxides are known to exhibit metamagnetic switching from a non-ferromagnetic to ferromagnetic phase. Here, the authors demonstrate an electrically driven inverse-metamagnetic transition from a ferromagnetic state to an antiferromagnetic-like phase in an epitaxial Sm1-xSrxMnO3 thin film.