Correlation between spin helicity and electric polarization vector in quantum-spin chain magnet LiCu${}_2$O${}_2$

Abstract

Measurements of polarized neutron scattering were performed on a $S=1/2$ chain multiferroic LiCu${}_2$O${}_2$. In the ferroelectric ground state with the spontaneous polarization along the c-axis, the existence of transverse spiral spin component in the $bc$-plane was confirmed. When the direction of electric polarization is reversed, the vector spin chirality as defined by ${\mathbf{C}}_{ij}={\mathbf{S}}_i\times {\mathbf{S}}_j$ ($i$ and $j$ being the neighboring spin sites) is observed to be reversed, indicating that the spin-current model or the inverse Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya mechanism is applicable even to this $e_{\mathrm{g}}$-electron quantum-spin system. Differential scattering intensity of polarized neutrons shows a large discrepancy from that expected for the classical-spin $bc$-cycloidal structure, implying the effect of large quantum fluctuation.

5 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Spin current and magneto-electric effect in non-collinear magnets
• Role of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in multiferroic perovskites
• Magnetically driven ferroelectric order in Ni${}_3$V${}_2$O${}_8$
• Ferroelectric polarization flop in a frustrated magnet MnWO${}_4$ induced by magnetic fields
• Spin-polarization coupling in multiferroic transition-metal oxides

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