Autferroicity: Concept, Candidates, and Applications

• • Autferroics exploit mutual exclusivity between ferroelectric and magnetic orders, enabling field-selective switching with intrinsically strong ME coupling, overcoming the trade-off seen in type-I multiferroics (e.g., BiFeO3: ~100 μC/cm2 polarization but weak ME) and type-II (e.g., TbMnO3: strong ME but <10 μC/cm2 polarization). • • The bistable energy landscape in autferroics, with energetically separated ferroic phases, supports true random number generation (TRNG) at higher rates due to reduced energy barriers along the switching pathway, even with shallow metastable states. • • Autferroic memory devices encode logic states in the identity of the active ferroic phase, offering high read/write contrast, minimal crosstalk, and low power consumption, unlike conventional multiferroic memories that require robust primary order parameters. • • Practical autferroic devices require advances in material synthesis, precise phase control, and interface engineering to access desired regimes under ambient conditions, as highlighted in the experimental perspective.