2012/05/15 by J. Lee, Lee, J., S. A. Trugman +20
Materials Science · Energy · Physics and Astronomy · #Multiferroics and related materials #Iron oxide chemistry and applications #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1205.3528
Ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials possess spontaneous electric and\nmagnetic order, respectively, which can be switched by the corresponding\napplied electric and magnetic fields. Multiferroics combine these properties in\na single material, providing an avenue for controlling electric polarization\nwith a magnetic field and magnetism with an electric field. These materials\nhave been intensively studied in recent years, both for their fundamental\nscientific interest as well as their potential applications in a broad range of\nmagnetoelectric devices [1, 2, 3, 4]. However, the microscopic origins of\nmagnetism and ferroelectricity are quite different, and the mechanisms\nproducing strong coupling between them are not always well understood. Hence,\ngaining a deeper understanding of magnetoelectric coupling in these materials\nis the key to their rational design. Here, we use ultrafast optical\nspectroscopy to show that quantum charge fluctuations can govern the interplay\nbetween electric polarization and magnetic ordering in the charge-ordered\nmultiferroic LuFe2O4.\n