Directed synthesis of a hybrid improper magnetoelectric multiferroic material

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25098-1

Authors: Tong Zhu (University of Oxford) , Fabio Orlandi (ISIS Facility) , Pascal Manuel (ISIS Facility) , Alexandra S. Gibbs (ISIS Facility) , Weiguo Zhang (University of Houston) , P. Shiv Halasyamani (University of Houston) , Michael A. Hayward (University of Oxford)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Nature Communications , VOL 12

State: Published (Approved)
Published: August 2021
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 13284

Abstract: Preparing materials which simultaneously exhibit spontaneous magnetic and electrical polarisations is challenging as the electronic features which are typically used to stabilise each of these two polarisations in materials are contradictory. Here we show that by performing low-temperature cation-exchange reactions on a hybrid improper ferroelectric material, Li2SrTa2O7, which adopts a polar structure due to a cooperative tilting of its constituent TaO6 octahedra rather than an electronically driven atom displacement, a paramagnetic polar phase, MnSrTa2O7, can be prepared. On cooling below 43 K the Mn2+ centres in MnSrTa2O7 adopt a canted antiferromagnetic state, with a small spontaneous magnetic moment. On further cooling to 38 K there is a further transition in which the size of the ferromagnetic moment increases coincident with a decrease in magnitude of the polar distortion, consistent with a coupling between the two polarisations.

Journal Keywords: Electronic materials; Electronic properties and materials

Diamond Keywords: Data Storage; Ferromagnetism; Ferroelectricity

Subject Areas: Materials, Physics, Chemistry


Instruments: I11-High Resolution Powder Diffraction

Other Facilities: HRPD and WISH at ISIS

Added On: 23/08/2021 09:14

Discipline Tags:

Quantum Materials Hard condensed matter - electronic properties Multiferroics Physics Physical Chemistry Components & Micro-systems Information & Communication Technologies Chemistry Magnetism Materials Science Perovskites Metallurgy

Technical Tags:

Diffraction X-ray Powder Diffraction