2007/03/26 by Ronald Tackett, R. Tackett, G. Lawes +8 · 1 citation
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials #Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials #Multiferroics and related materials #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.76.024409
published as Phys. Rev. B 76, 024409 (2007) (6 pages) · 6 pages, 7 figures
arxiv created 2007/03/26 · openalex publication_date 2007/07/06 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We have investigated the dielectric anomalies associated with spin-ordering transitions in the tetragonal spinel Mn3O4 using thermodynamic, magnetic, and dielectric measurements. We find that two of the three magnetic ordering transitions in Mn3O4 lead to decreases in the temperature-dependent dielectric constant at zero applied field. Applying a magnetic field to the polycrystalline sample leaves these two dielectric anomalies practically unchanged, but leads to an increase in the dielectric constant at the intermediate spin-ordering transition. We discuss possible origins for this magnetodielectric behavior in terms of spin-phonon coupling. Band structure calculations suggest that in its ferrimagnetic state, Mn3O4 corresponds to a semiconductor with no orbital degeneracy due to strong Jahn-Teller distortion.