Giant magnetostriction and nonsaturating electric polarization up to 60 T in the polar magnet CaBaCo4O7

Abstract

Giant magnetostriction in insulating magnetic materials is highly required for applications but is rarely observed. Here we show that giant magnetostriction (> 1500 ppm) can be achieved in an insulating transition metal oxide CaBaCo4O7 where the ferrimagnetic ordering at TC ~ 62 K is associated with a huge change in the lattice. Moreover, because this material is pyroelectric with a non-switchable electric polarization (P), the giant magnetostriction results in a record-breaking magnetoelectric effect - a gigantic change of electric polarization (deltaP ~ 1.6 μC/cm2) in response to the applied magnetic field up to 60 T. Geometric frustration as well as the orbital instability of Co2+/Co3+ ions is believed to play a crucial role in the giant magnetostriction. Our study provides new insights on how to achieve both giant magnetostriction and pronounced magnetoelectric effect in insulating transition metal oxides.

17 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Ferroelectric polarization flop in a frustrated magnet MnWO${}_4$ induced by magnetic fields
• CaBaCo${}_4$O${}_7$ : A ferrimagnetic pyroelectric
• Competing Exchange Interactions in the Multiferroic and Ferrimagnetic CaBaCo${}_4$O${}_7$
• Atomic-scale mechanisms for magnetostriction in CoFe${}_2$O${}_4$ and La${}_{0.5}$Sr${}_{0.5}$CoO${}_3$ oxides determined by differential x-ray absorption spectroscopy

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Spin-lattice and magnetoelectric couplings enhanced by orbital degrees of freedom in polar magnets