Direct transition from a disordered to a multiferroic phase on a triangular lattice

We report the first direct transition from a paramagnetic and paraelectric phase to an incommensurate multiferroic in the triangular lattice antiferromagnet RbFe(MoO4)(2). Ferroelectricity is observed only when the magnetic structure has chirality and breaks inversion symmetry. A Landau expansion of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2007-06, Vol.98 (26), p.267205-267205, Article 267205
Main Authors: Kenzelmann, M, Lawes, G, Harris, A B, Gasparovic, G, Broholm, C, Ramirez, A P, Jorge, G A, Jaime, M, Park, S, Huang, Q, Shapiro, A Ya, Demianets, L A
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We report the first direct transition from a paramagnetic and paraelectric phase to an incommensurate multiferroic in the triangular lattice antiferromagnet RbFe(MoO4)(2). Ferroelectricity is observed only when the magnetic structure has chirality and breaks inversion symmetry. A Landau expansion of symmetry-allowed terms in the free energy demonstrates that chiral magnetic order can give rise to a pseudoelectric field, whose temperature dependence agrees with experiment.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.98.267205