${\mathrm{MnSb}}_{2}{\mathbf{O}}_{6}$: A Polar Magnet with a Chiral Crystal Structure

${MnSb}_{2} O_{6}$ : A Polar Magnet with a Chiral Crystal Structure

R. D. Johnson, K. Cao, L. C. Chapon, F. Fabrizi, N. Perks, P. Manuel, J. J. Yang, Y. S. Oh, S.-W. Cheong, and P. G. Radaelli

Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 017202 – Published 3 July 2013

Abstract

Structural and magnetic chiralities are found to coexist in a small group of materials in which they produce intriguing phenomenologies such as the recently discovered Skyrmion phases. Here, we describe a previously unknown manifestation of this interplay in ${MnSb}_{2} O_{6}$ , a trigonal oxide with a chiral crystal structure. Unlike all other known cases, the ${MnSb}_{2} O_{6}$ magnetic structure is based on corotating cycloids rather than helices. The coupling to the structural chirality is provided by a magnetic axial vector, related to the so-called vector chirality. We show that this unique arrangement is the magnetic ground state of the symmetric-exchange Hamiltonian, based on ab initio theoretical calculations of the Heisenberg exchange interactions, and is stabilized by out-of-plane anisotropy. ${MnSb}_{2} O_{6}$ is predicted to be multiferroic with a unique ferroelectric switching mechanism.

Received 15 March 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.017202

Authors & Affiliations

R. D. Johnson^1,2,*, K. Cao³, L. C. Chapon⁴, F. Fabrizi¹, N. Perks¹, P. Manuel², J. J. Yang⁵, Y. S. Oh⁶, S.-W. Cheong⁶, and P. G. Radaelli¹

¹Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
²ISIS facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory-STFC, Chilton, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
³Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom
⁴Institut Laue-Langevin, BP 156X, 38042 Grenoble, France
⁵Laboratory for Pohang Emergent Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea
⁶Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials and Department of Physics and Astronomy, 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway 08854, New Jersey, USA