Can the Ferroelectric Soft Mode Trigger an Antiferromagnetic Phase Transition?
Abstract
Type-II multiferroics, where spin interactions induce a ferroelectric polarization, are interesting for new device functionalities due to large magnetoelectric coupling. We report on a new type of multiferroicity in the quadruple-perovskite $\text{BiMn}_{\text{3}}\text{Cr}_{\text{4}}\text{O}_{\text{12}}$, where an antiferromagnetic phase is induced by the structural change at the ferroelectric phase transition. The displacive nature of the ferroelectric phase transition at 125 K, with a crossover to an order-disorder mechanism, is evidenced by a polar soft phonon in the THz range and a central mode. Dielectric and pyroelectric studies show that the ferroelectric critical temperature corresponds to the previously reported Néel temperature of the $\text{Cr}^{\text{3+}}$ spins. An increase in ferroelectric polarization is observed below 48 K, coinciding with the Néel temperature of the $\text{Mn}^{\text{3+}}$ spins. This increase in polarization is attributed to an enhanced magnetoelectric coupling, as no change in the crystal symmetry below 48 K is detected from infrared and Raman spectra.
- Publication:
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arXiv e-prints
- Pub Date:
- November 2022
- DOI:
- 10.48550/arXiv.2211.00386
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2211.00386
- Bibcode:
- 2022arXiv221100386M
- Keywords:
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- Condensed Matter - Materials Science