No Arabic abstract
In contrast to well studied multiferroic manganites with a spiral structure, the electric polarization in multiferroic borates is induced within collinear antiferromagnetic structure and can easily be switched by small static fields. Because of specific symmetry conditions, static and dynamic properties in borates are directly connected, which leads to giant magnetoelectric and magnetodielectric effects. Here we prove experimentally that the giant magnetodielectric effect in samarium ferroborate SmFe3(BO3)4 is of intrinsic origin and is caused by an unusually large electromagnon situated in the microwave range. This electromagnon reveals strong optical activity exceeding 120 degrees of polarization rotation in a millimeter thick sample.
Many technological applications are based on electric or magnetic order of materials, for instance magnetic memory. Multiferroics are materials which exhibit electric and magnetic order simultaneously. Due to the coupling of electric and magnetic effects, these materials show a strong potential to control electricity and magnetism and, more generally, the properties and propagation of light. One of the most fascinating and counter-intuitive recent results in multiferroics is directional anisotropy, the asymmetry of light propagation with respect to the direction of propagation. The absorption in the material can be different for forward and backward propagation of light, which in extreme case may lead to complete suppression of absorption in one direction. Another remarkable effect in multiferroics is directional birefringence, i.e. different velocities of light for different directions of propagation. In this paper, we demonstrate giant directional birefringence in a multiferroic samarium ferroborate. The effect is easily observed for linear polarization of light in the range of millimeter-wavelengths, and survives down to very low frequencies. The dispersion and absorption close to the electromagnon resonance can be controlled and fully suppressed in one direction. Therefore, samarium ferroborate is a universal tool for optical control: with a magnetic field as an external parameter it allows switching between two functionalities: polarization rotation and directional anisotropy.
We present a unique example of giant magnetoelectric effect in a conventional multiferroic HoMnO3, where polarization is very large (~56 mC/m2) and the ferroelectric transition temperature is higher than the magnetic ordering temperature by an order. We attribute the uniqueness of the giant magnetoelectric effect to the ferroelectricity induced entirely by the off-center displacement of rare earth ions with large magnetic moments. This finding suggests a new avenue to design multiferroics with large polarization and higher ferroelectric transition temperature as well as large magnetoelectric effects.
In order to clarify the mechanism associated with pressure/magnetic-field-induced giant ferroelectric polarization in TbMnO3, this work investigated changes in magnetic ordering brought about by variations in temperature, magnetic field, and pressure. This was accomplished by means of neutron diffraction analyses under high pressures and high magnetic fields, employing a single crystal. The incommensurate magnetic ordering of a cycloid structure was found to be stable below the reported critical pressure of 4.5 GPa. In contrast, a commensurate E-type spin ordering of Mn spins and a noncollinear configuration of Tb spins with k=(0,1/2,0) appeared above 4.5 GPa. The application of a magnetic field along the a axis (H_{||a}) under pressure induces a k=(0,0,0)antiferromagnetic structure in the case of Tb spins above H_{||a}, enhancing the ferroelectric polarization, while the E-type ordering of Mn spins is stable even above the critical field. From the present experimental findings, we conclude that the E-type ordering of Mn spins induces giant ferroelectric polarization through an exchange striction mechanism. The H_{||a}-induced polarization enhancement can be understood by considering that the polarization, reduced by the polar ordering of Tb moments in a zero field, can be recovered through a field-induced change to nonpolar k=(0,0,0) ordering at H_{||a} ~ 2T.
It is shown that the Weyl semimetal TaAs can have a significant polar vector contribution to its optical activity. This is quantified by ab initio calculations of the resonant x-ray diffraction at the Ta L1 edge. For the Bragg vector (400), this polar vector contribution to the circular intensity differential between left and right polarized x-rays is predicted to be comparable to that arising from linear dichroism. Implications this result has in regards to optical effects predicted for topological Weyl semimetals are discussed.
The effects of strain on a film of mulitferroic GdMnO3 are investigated using both magnetometry and magneto-optic spectroscopy. Optical spectra, in the energy range 1.5eV - 3.5eV, were taken in Faraday geometry in an applied magnetic field and also at remanence. This yielded rich information on the effects of strain on the spin ordering in these films. Epitaxial films of GdMnO3 were grown on SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 substrates. The LaAlO3 was twinned and so produced a highly strained film whereas the strain was less for the film grown on SrTiO3. The Neel temperatures and coercive fields were measured using zero field data and hysteresis loops obtained using a SQUID magnetometer. Optical absorption data agreed with earlier work on bulk materials. The two well known features in the optical spectrum, the charge transfer transition between Mn d states at ~2eV and the band edge transition from the oxygen p band to the d states at ~3eV are observed in the magnetic circular dichroism; however they behaved very differently both as a function of magnetic field and temperature. This is interpreted in terms of the magnetic ordering of the Mn spins.