Origin of the giant linear magnetoelectric effect in perovskite-like multiferroic BiFeO${}_3$

Abstract

In this article the mechanism of the linear magnetoelectric (ME) effect in the rhombohedral multiferroic BiFeO${}_3$ is considered. The study is based on the symmetry approach of the GinzburgLandau type, in which polarization, antiferrodistortion, and antiferromagnetic momentum vectors are viewed as ordering parameters. We demonstrate that the linear ME effect in BFO is caused by reorientation of the antiferrodistortion vector in either electric or magnetic field. The numerical estimations, which show quantitative agreement with the results of the recent measurements in film samples, have been performed. A possibility of significant enhancement of the magnetoelectric effect by applying an external static electric field has been investigated. The considered approach is promising for explaining the high values of the ME effect in composite films and heterostructures with BFO.

arXiv comment12 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters

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Cited by in corpus (8)

• Electric field controlled magnetic exchange bias and magnetic state switching at room temperature in Ga doped α-Fe2O3 oxide
• Multiferroic order parameters in rhombic antiferromagnets. RCrO${}_3$
• Simulation of the Magnetization Dynamics of a Single Domain BiFeO${}_3$ Thin Film
• Impact of magnetization and hyperfine field distribution on high magnetoelectric coupling strength in BaTiO${}_3$-BiFeO${}_3$ multilayers
• Superexchange theory of electronic polarization driven by relativistic spin-orbit interaction at the half-filling
• Pinning, Rotation, and Metastability of BiFeO${}_3$ Cycloidal Domains in a Magnetic Field
• A coupled magneto-structural continuum model for multiferroic ${\mathrm{BiFeO}}_3$
• Control of surface plasmon-polaritons in magnetoelectric heterostructures