One of the most promising candidates for the construction of ultrahigh-density storage media is low-dimensional atomic-scale magnetic nanostructures exhibiting magnetic bi- or multistability. Here we propose a novel route of locally controlling and switching magnetism in such nanostructures. Our ab initio studies reveal that externally applied electric field can be used for this purpose.

• Received 14 July 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.037202