Cycloidal magnetism driven ferroelectricity in double tungstate LiFe(WO${}_4$)${}_2$

Abstract

Tungstates $A$WO${}_4$ with the wolframite structure characterized by the $A$O${}_6$ octahedral zigzag chains along the $c$-axis, can be magnetic if $A$=Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Ni. Among them, MnWO${}_4$ is a unique member with a cycloid Mn${}^{2+}$ spin order developed at low temperature, leading to an interesting type-II multiferroic behavior. However, so far no other multiferroic material in the tungstate family has been found. In this work, we present the synthesis and the systematic study of the double tungstate LiFe(WO${}_4$)${}_2$. Experimental characterizations including structural, thermodynamic, magnetic, neutron powder diffraction, and pyroelectric measurements, unambiguously confirm that LiFe(WO${}_4$)${}_2$ is the secondly found multiferroic system in the tungstate family. The cycloidal magnetism driven ferroelectricity is also verified by density functional theory calculations. Although here the magnetic couplings between Fe ions are indirect, namely via the so-called super-super-exchanges, the temperatures of magnetic and ferroelectric transitions are surprisingly much higher than those of MnWO${}_4$.

arXiv comment9 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (22)

• Restoring the density-gradient expansion for exchange in solids and surfaces
• Generalized gradient approximation for solids and their surfaces
• Spin current and magneto-electric effect in non-collinear magnets
• Multiferroicity, The coupling between magnetic and polarization
• Ferroelectricity in spiral magnets
• Role of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in multiferroic perovskites
• Multiferroic materials and magnetoelectric physics: symmetry, entanglement, excitation, and topology
• Ferroelectricity in the Magnetic E-Phase of Orthorhombic Perovskites
• Ferroelectric polarization flop in a frustrated magnet MnWO${}_4$ induced by magnetic fields
• Giant improper ferroelectricity in the ferroaxial magnet CaMn7O12
• Spin-Orbit Coupling and Ion Displacements in Multiferroic TbMnO3
• First-principles study of improper ferroelectricity in TbMnO3
• A New Multiferroic Material: MnWO4
• Multiferroic Properties of CaMn${}_7$O${}_{12}$
• Origin of the multiferroic spiral spin-order in the RMnO3 perovskites
• Recent Progress of Multiferroic Perovskite Manganites
• Giant Ferroelectric Polarization of CaMn7O12 Induced by a Combined Effect of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction and Exchange Striction
• The Suppression and Recovery of the Ferroelectric Phase in Multiferroic $MnW{O}_4$
• Inversion of ferrimagnetic magnetization by ferroelectric switching via a novel magnetoelectric coupling
• Experimental observation of ferrielectricity in multiferroic DyMn2O5: revisiting the electric polarization
• Charge transfer and hybrid ferroelectricity in (YFeO${}_3$)${}_n$/(YTiO${}_3$)${}_n$ magnetic superlattices
• Strong magnetoelastic coupling at the transition from harmonic to anharmonic order in NaFe(WO${}_4$)${}_2$ with 3d${}^5$ configuration

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Multiferroic properties of oxygen functionalized magnetic i-MXene
• Antiferromagnetism of Double Molybdate LiFe(MoO${}_4$)${}_2$
• New iron-based multiferroics with improper ferroelectricity
• Domain wall patterning and giant response functions in ferrimagnetic spinels
• Chiral Order and Multiferroic Domain Relaxation in NaFeGe${}_2$O${}_6$
• Single-crystal investigations on the multiferroic material LiFe(WO${}_4$)${}_2$
• Direct evidence for intermediate multiferroic phase in LiCuFe2(VO4)3
• Incommensurate-commensurate magnetic phase transition in the double tungstate Li2Co(WO4)2