Magnetic-field-induced polarization flop in multiferroic TmMn2O5

We discovered a reversible electric polarization flop from the a axis (P(a)) to the b axis (P(b)) in multiferroic TmMn2O5 below 5 K by applying a magnetic field of approximately 0.5 T along the c axis. This phenomenon is the first example of the rare-earth (R) compound RMn2O5. This magnetic-field-in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2009-08, Vol.103 (7), p.077204-077204
Main Authors: Fukunaga, M, Sakamoto, Y, Kimura, H, Noda, Y, Abe, N, Taniguchi, K, Arima, T, Wakimoto, S, Takeda, M, Kakurai, K, Kohn, K
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We discovered a reversible electric polarization flop from the a axis (P(a)) to the b axis (P(b)) in multiferroic TmMn2O5 below 5 K by applying a magnetic field of approximately 0.5 T along the c axis. This phenomenon is the first example of the rare-earth (R) compound RMn2O5. This magnetic-field-induced polarization flop corresponds to a magnetic phase transition from one incommensurate magnetic (ICM) P(a) phase to another ICM P(b) phase, which is equivalent to an ICM P(b) phase above 5 K under no magnetic field. The spin chirality in the bc plane, which was observed in the P(b) phase by polarized neutron diffraction, disappeared in the ICM P(a) phase. This indicates that the polarization in the ICM phases of TmMn2O5 was induced by an S(i) x S(j)-type interaction.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.077204