  The ability to manipulate spins in magnetic materials is essential in
designing spintronics devices. One method for magnetic switching is through
strain. In VO2 on TiO2 thin films, while VO2 remains rutile across the
metal-insulator transition, the in-plane lattice area expands going from low
temperature insulating phase to high temperature conducting phase. In a
VO2/TbFeCo bilayer, the expansion of the VO2 lattice area exerts tension on the
amorphous TbFeCo layer. Through the strain effect, magnetic properties,
including the magnetic anisotropy and magnetization, of TbFeCo can be changed.
In this work, the changes in magnetic properties of TbFeCo on VO2/TiO2(011) are
demonstrated using anomalous Hall effect measurements. Across the
metal-insulator transition, TbFeCo loses perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, and
the magnetization in TbFeCo turns from out-of-plane to in-plane. Using
atomistic simulations, we confirm these tunable magnetic properties originating
from the metal-insulator transition of VO2. This study provides the groundwork
for controlling magnetic properties through a phase transition.
