Chirality-driven ferroelectricity in LiCuVO4

Chirality or the handedness of objects is of prime importance in life science, biology, chemistry, and physics. It is also a major symmetry ingredient in frustrated magnets revealing spin-spiral ground states. Vector-chiral phases, with the twist (either clock- or counter clock-wise) between neighbo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:npj quantum materials 2019-05, Vol.4 (1), Article 24
Main Authors: Ruff, Alexander, Lunkenheimer, Peter, Krug von Nidda, Hans-Albrecht, Widmann, Sebastian, Prokofiev, Andrey, Svistov, Leonid, Loidl, Alois, Krohns, Stephan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/301/119/996
639/766/119
639/766/119/2795
Antiferromagnetism
Chirality
Condensed Matter Physics
Ferroelectric materials
Ferroelectricity
Ferromagnetism
Long range order
Magnets
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Quantum Physics
Structural Materials
Surfaces and Interfaces
Thin Films
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Chirality or the handedness of objects is of prime importance in life science, biology, chemistry, and physics. It is also a major symmetry ingredient in frustrated magnets revealing spin-spiral ground states. Vector-chiral phases, with the twist (either clock- or counter clock-wise) between neighboring spins being ordered, but with disorder with respect to the angles between adjacent spins, have been predicted almost five decades ago. Experimental proofs, however, are rare and controversial. Here, we provide experimental evidence for such a phase in LiCuVO 4 , a one-dimensional quantum magnet with competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions. The vector-chiral state is identified via a finite ferroelectric polarization arising at temperatures well above the multiferroic phase exhibiting long-range three-dimensional spin-spiral and polar order. On increasing temperatures, spin order becomes suppressed at T N , whereas chiral long-range order still exist, leaving a temperature window with chirality-driven ferroelectricity in the presence of an external magnetic field.
ISSN:2397-4648
2397-4648
DOI:10.1038/s41535-019-0163-2