Magnetically-induced electric polarization in an organo-metallic magnet

Abstract

The coupling between magnetic order and ferroelectricity has been under intense investigation in a wide range of transition-metal oxides. The strongest coupling is obtained in so-called magnetically-induced multiferroics where ferroelectricity arises directly from magnetic order that breaks inversion symmetry. However, it has been difficult to find non-oxide based materials in which these effects occur. Here we present a study of copper dimethyl sulfoxide dichloride (CDC), an organo-metallic quantum magnet containing $S=1/2$ Cu spins, in which electric polarization arises from non-collinear magnetic order. We show that the electric polarization can be switched in a stunning hysteretic fashion. Because the magnetic order in CDC is mediated by large organic molecules, our study shows that magnetoelectric interactions can exist in this important class of materials, opening the road to designing magnetoelectrics and multiferroics using large molecules as building blocks. Further, we demonstrate that CDC undergoes a magnetoelectric quantum phase transition where both ferroelectric and magnetic order emerge simultaneously as a function of magnetic field at very low temperatures.

References in corpus (7)

• Spin current and magneto-electric effect in non-collinear magnets
• Multiferroics: different ways to combine magnetism and ferroelectricity
• Magnetically driven ferroelectric order in Ni${}_3$V${}_2$O${}_8$
• Direct transition from a disordered to a multiferroic phase on a triangular lattice
• A versatile and compact capacitive dilatometer
• Bound spinons in an antiferromagnetic S=1/2 chain with a staggered field
• Phase diagram and spin Hamiltonian of weakly-coupled anisotropic S=1/2 chains in CuCl2*2((CD3)2SO)

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• Electric polarization observed in single crystals of multiferroic Lu2MnCoO6
• Investigation of infrared phonon modes in multiferroic single-crystal FeTe${}_2$O${}_5$Br
• Magnetic model for A2CuP2O7 (A = Na, Li) revisited: 1D versus 2D behavior
• High magnetic field evolution of ferroelectricity in CuCrO2
• Multiferroicity with coexisting isotropic and anisotropic spins in Ca${}_3$Co${}_{2-x}$Mn${}_x$O${}_6$
• Capacitive detection of magnetostriction, dielectric constant, and magneto-caloric effects in pulsed magnetic fields
• Partially disordered antiferromagnetism and multiferroic behavior in a frustrated Ising system, CoCl${}_2$-2SC(NH${}_2$)${}_2$
• Field-induced spin level crossings within a quasi-XY antiferromagnetic state in Ba${}_2$FeSi${}_2$O${}_7$
• Low-temperature thermal conductivity of antiferromagnetic S = 1/2 chain material CuCl_2$\cdot$2((CH_3)_2SO)