No Arabic abstract
The magnetic and ferroelectric properties of the multiferroic system Mn$_{1-x}$Co$_x$WO$_4$ (x=0.135, 0.15, and 0.17) are studied in magnetic fields $H_c$ oriented along the monoclinic $c$-axis. Mn$_{0.85}$Co$_{0.15}$WO$_4$, which is right at the phase boundary between two helical spin structures, exhibits a spontaneous sign change of the ferroelectric polarization when cooled in fields $H_c>$ 25 kOe. The origin of the ferroelectric polarization is studied and two magnetic exchange interactions contributing to the polarization are identified. In Mn$_{0.85}$Co$_{0.15}$WO$_4$ domains of the characteristic helical spin structures, known for x$<$0.15 and x$>$0.15, coexist and form domain boundaries. The contributions of the different domains to the global polarization are determined. The polarization reversal in Mn$_{0.85}$Co$_{0.15}$WO$_4$ can be explained by a combination of various contributions to the polarization and a strong correlation between magnetic domains of different helical spin orders resulting in a smooth transition across the domain walls which preserves the chirality of the spin spiral.
The multiferroic RMn2O5 family, where R is rare-earth ion or Y, exhibits rich physics of multiferroicity which has not yet well understood, noting that multiferroicity is receiving attentions for promising application potentials. DyMn2O5 is a representative member of this family. The ferroelectric polarization in DyMn2O5 is claimed to have two anti-parallel components: one (PDM) from the symmetric exchange striction between the Dy3+-Mn4+ interactions and the other (PMM) from the symmetric exchange striction between the Mn3+-Mn4+ interactions. We investigate the evolutions of the two components upon a partial substitution of Mn3+ by nonmagnetic Al3+ in order to tailor the Mn-Mn interactions and then to modulate component PMM in DyMn2-x/2Alx/2O5. It is revealed that the ferroelectric polarization can be successfully reversed by the Al-substitution via substantially suppressing the Mn3+-Mn4+ interactions and thus the PMM. The Dy3+-Mn4+ interactions and the polarization component PDM can sustain against the substitution until a level as high as x=0.2. In addition, the independent Dy spin ordering is shifted remarkably down to an extremely low temperature due to the Al3+ substitution. The present work not only confirms the existence of the two anti-parallel polarization components but also unveils the possibility of tailoring them independently.
We have investigated magnetic field dependences of a ferroelectric incommensurate-helimagnetic order in a trigonal magneto-electric (ME) multiferroic CuFe1-xAlxO2 with x=0.015, which exhibits the ferroelectric phase as a ground state, by means of neutron diffraction, magnetization and dielectric polarization measurements under magnetic fields applied along various directions. From the present results, we have established the H-T magnetic phase diagrams for the three principal directions of magnetic fields; (i) parallel to the c axis, (ii) parallel to the helical axis, and (iii) perpendicular to the c and the helical axes. While the previous dielectric polarization (P) measurements on CuFe1-xGaxO2 with x=0.035 have demonstrated that the magnetic field dependence of the `magnetic domain structure results in distinct magnetic field responses of P [S. Seki et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 103 237601 (2009)], the present study have revealed that the anisotropic magnetic field dependence of the ferroelectric helimagnetic order `in each magnetic domain can be also a source of a variety of magnetic field responses of P in CuFe1-xAxO2 systems (A=Al, Ga).
We investigated the electronic structure of layered Mn oxide Bi3Mn4O12(NO3) with a Mn honeycomb lattice by x-ray absorption spectroscopy. The valence of Mn was determined to be 4+ with a small charge-transfer energy. We estimated the values of superexchange interactions up to the fourth nearest neighbors (J1, J2, J3, and J4) by unrestricted Hartree-Fock calculations and a perturbation method. We found that the absolute values of J1 through J4 are similar with positive (antiferromagnetic) J1 and J4, and negative (ferromagnetic) J2 and J3, due to Mn-O-O-Mn pathways activated by the smallness of charge-transfer energy. The negative J3 provides magnetic frustration in the honeycomb lattice to prevent long-range ordering.
We have used in-field neutron and X-ray single crystal diffraction to measure the incommensurability δ of the crystal and magnetic structure of multiferroic TbMnO3 . We show that the flop in the electric polarization at the critical field HC, for field H along the a− and b−axis coincides with a 1st order transition to a commensurate phase with propagation vector κ = (0, 1/4, 0). In-field X-ray diffraction measurements show that the quadratic magneto-elastic coupling breaks down with applied field as shown by the observation of the 1st harmonic lattice reflections above and below HC . This indicates that magnetic field induces a linear magneto-elastic coupling. We argue that the commensurate phase can be described by an ordering of Mn-O-Mn bond angles.
The quantum spin continuum and classical spin freezing, associated with a glassy state, represent two opposite extremes of a correlated electronic material. Here, we report the coexistence of a quantum spin continuum with a weak spin glass order in Co-doped CaRuO$_{3}$ perovskite near the chemical doping dependent metal-insulator transition boundary. Inelastic neutron measurements on Ca(Co$_{0.15}$Ru$_{0.85}$)O$_{3}$ at low temperature, $T$ = 1.5 K, reveal a continuum spectrum in the $Q-E$ space due to uncorrelated spin fluctuations. This persists across the glass transition at $T_G simeq$23 K. Furthermore, scaling of the dynamic susceptibility yields a very small scaling coefficient $alpha$ $simeq$ 0.1, suggesting extreme locality of the dynamic properties. The experimental results indicate the realization of a narrow regime where the distinction between continuum dynamic behavior and glass-like regimes is reduced.