Electric Field Control of the Magnetic Chiralities in Ferroaxial Multiferroic RbFe(MoO4)2

Alexander J. Hearmon, Federica Fabrizi, Laurent C. Chapon, R. D. Johnson, Dharmalingam Prabhakaran, Sergey V. Streltsov, P. J. Brown, and Paolo G. Radaelli
Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 237201 – Published 4 June 2012

Abstract

The coupling of magnetic chiralities to the ferroelectric polarization in multiferroic RbFe(MoO4)2 is investigated by neutron spherical polarimetry. Because of the axiality of the crystal structure below Tc=190K, helicity and triangular chirality are symmetric-exchange coupled, explaining the onset of the ferroelectricity in this proper-screw magnetic structure—a mechanism that can be generalized to other systems with ferroaxial distortions in the crystal structure. With an applied electric field, we demonstrate control of the chiralities in both structural domains simultaneously.

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  • Received 10 February 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.237201

© 2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Alexander J. Hearmon1,2,*, Federica Fabrizi1, Laurent C. Chapon3,4, R. D. Johnson1,3, Dharmalingam Prabhakaran1, Sergey V. Streltsov5,6, P. J. Brown4, and Paolo G. Radaelli1

  • 1Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
  • 2Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
  • 3ISIS Facility, STFC-Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, OX11 OQX, United Kingdom
  • 4Institute Laue-Langevin, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
  • 5Institute of Metal Physics, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. S. Kovalevskoĭ 18, Yekaterinburg, 620041, Russia
  • 6Ural Federal University, Mira St. 19, 620002 Yekaterinburg, Russia.

  • *a.hearmon@physics.ox.ac.uk

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Issue

Vol. 108, Iss. 23 — 8 June 2012

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