Multiferroic phase diagram of E -type R MnO 3 films studied by neutron and x-ray diffraction

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.98.174416

Authors: Saumya Mukherjee (Diamond Light Source; Paul Scherrer Institut) , Kenta Shimamoto (Paul Scherrer Institut) , Yoav William Windsor (Swiss Light Source) , Mahesh Ramakrishnan (Swiss Light Source) , Sergii Parchenko (Swiss Light Source) , Urs Staub (Swiss Light Source) , Laurent Chapon (Diamond Light Source; Institut Laue-Langevin) , Bachir Ouladdiaf (Institut Laue-Langevin) , Marisa Medarde (Paul Scherrer Institut) , Tian Shang (Paul Scherrer Institut; Swiss Light Source) , Elisabeth A. Müller (Paul Scherrer Institut) , Michel Kenzelmann (Paul Scherrer Institut) , Thomas Lippert (ETH Zürich; Paul Scherrer Institut) , Christof W. Schneider (Paul Scherrer Institut) , Christof Niedermayer (Paul Scherrer Institut)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Physical Review B , VOL 98

State: Published (Approved)
Published: November 2018

Abstract: We present a generalized multiferroic phase diagram for orthorhombic RMnO3(R=Gd–Lu) based on coherently grown thin films. The magnetic order was identified by neutron-diffraction and resonant soft x-ray scattering experiments. For large R-ions (R=Gd–Dy), the transition temperature to a long-range ordered antiferromagnetic phase is only weakly dependent on the R-ion radius, but decreases monotonically with decreasing R-ion radius for films with R=Ho–Lu. The antiferromagnetic phase is characterized by an incommensurate order of the Mn3+ spins, which successively locks into a commensurate E-type state. These findings confirm a uniform multiferroic ground state independent of the R ion and are in excellent agreement with predicted properties of strain-induced multiferroicity in these materials. In particular, strong variation of multiferroic properties in these epitaxial films compared to bulk highlights the tuning ability of strain.

Journal Keywords: Antiferromagnetism; Dielectric properties; Ferroelectricity; Magnetic interactions; Magnetic order parameter; Magnetic phase transitions; Magnetoelectric effect; Multiferroics; Neutron diffraction; X-ray diffraction

Subject Areas: Physics

Facility: SLS