Predicting a Ferrimagnetic Phase of Zn2FeOsO6 with Strong Magnetoelectric Coupling

Abstract

Multiferroic materials, in which ferroelectric and magnetic ordering coexist, are of fundamental interest for the development of novel memory devices that allow for electrical writing and non-destructive magnetic readout operation. The great challenge is to create room temperature multiferroic materials with strongly coupled ferroelectric and ferromagnetic (or ferrimagnetic) orderings. BiFeO3 has been the most heavily investigated single-phase multiferroic to date due to the coexistence of its magnetic order and ferroelectric order at room temperature. However, there is no net magnetic moment in the cycloidal (antiferromagnetic-like) magnetic state of bulk BiFeO3, which severely limits its realistic applications in electric field controlled spintronic devices. Here, we predict that double perovskite Zn2FeOsO6 is a new multiferroic with properties superior to BiFeO3. First, there are strong ferroelectricity and strong ferrimagnetism at room temperature in Zn2FeOsO6. Second, the easy-plane of the spontaneous magnetization can be switched by an external electric field, evidencing the strong magnetoelectric coupling existing in this system. Our results suggest that ferrimagnetic 3d-5d double perovskite may therefore be used to achieve voltage control of magnetism in future spintronic devices.

References in corpus (4)

• Weak ferromagnetism and magnetoelectric coupling in bismuth ferrite
• Origin of ferroelectricity in the multiferroic barium fluorides BaMF4
• Cooperative Effect of Electron Correlation and Spin-Orbit Coupling on the Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Ba2NaOsO6
• Ferrimagnetism in the double perovskite Ca2FeOsO6: a density functional study

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Prediction of High Temperature Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Two Dimensional Transition-Metal Oxides
• Lattice dynamics and ferroelectric properties of the nitride perovskite ${\mathrm{LaWN}}_3$
• Rules and mechanisms governing octahedral tilts in perovskites under pressure
• Ferroelectric Ferrimagnetic LiFe${}_2$F${}_6$: Charge Ordering Mediated Magnetoelectricity
• Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless Phase in Two-dimensional Ferroelectrics