Electric-field switchable magnetization via the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction: FeTiO_3 versus BiFeO_3

Abstract

In this article we review and discuss a mechanism for coupling between electric polarization and magnetization that can ultimately lead to electric-field switchable magnetization. The basic idea is that a ferroelectric distortion in an antiferromagnetic material can "switch on" the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction which leads to a canting of the antiferromagnetic sublattice magnetizations, and thus to a net magnetization. This magnetization M is coupled to the polarization P via a trilinear free energy contribution of the form P(M x L), where L is the antiferromagnetic order parameter. In particular, we discuss why such an invariant is present in R3c FeTiO_3 but not in the isostructural multiferroic BiFeO_3. Finally, we construct symmetry groups that in general allow for this kind of ferroelectrically-induced weak ferromagnetism.

15 pages, 3 images, to appear in J. Phys: Condens. Matter Focus Issue on Multiferroics

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Cited by in corpus (17)

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• First Principles Studies of Multiferroic Materials
• Nonreciprocal spin-wave channeling along textures driven by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction
• Electric-field coupling to spin waves in a centrosymmetric ferrite
• Polar phonons and spin excitations coupling in multiferroic BiFeO3 crystals
• The Magnetoelectric Effect in Transition Metal Oxides: Insights and the Rational Design of New Materials from First Principles
• The role of Coulomb and exchange interaction on the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction(DMI) in BiFeO3
• Electric field controlled magnetic exchange bias and magnetic state switching at room temperature in Ga doped α-Fe2O3 oxide
• Deterministic manipulation of multi-state polarization switching in multiferroic thin films
• Electric field driven flat bands: Enhanced magnetoelectric and electrocaloric effects in frustrated quantum magnets
• Surface and bulk polaritons in a linear magnetoelectric multiferroic with canted spins: Transverse Electric polarisation
• Proximate transition temperatures amplify linear magnetoelectric coupling in strain-disordered multiferroic BiMnO3
• Antisymmetry: Fundamentals and Applications
• Comment on "Ferroelectrically Induced Weak Ferromagnetism by Design", C. Fennie, PRL 100, 167203 (2008)
• Dynamical systems study in single-phase multiferroic materials
• The effect of transverse magnetic correlations on a coupled order parameter: shifted transition temperatures and thermal hysteresis
• Prediction of Room Temperature Electric Field Reversal of Magnetization in the Family of $A_4{B}_3{\mathrm{O}}_9$ Layered Oxides