Terahertz and infrared spectroscopic evidence of phonon-paramagnon coupling in hexagonal piezomagnetic YMnO3

Terahertz and far-infrared electric and magnetic responses of hexagonal piezomagnetic YMnO3 single crystals are investigated. Antiferromagnetic resonance is observed in the spectra of magnetic permeability mu_a [H(omega) oriented within the hexagonal plane] below the Neel temperature T_N. This excitation softens from 41 to 32 cm-1 on heating and finally disappears above T_N. An additional weak and heavily-damped excitation is seen in the spectra of complex dielectric permittivity epsilon_c within the same frequency range. This excitation contributes to the dielectric spectra in both antiferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases. Its oscillator strength significantly increases on heating towards room temperature thus providing evidence of piezomagnetic or higher-order couplings to polar phonons. Other heavily-damped dielectric excitations are detected near 100 cm-1 in the paramagnetic phase in both epsilon_c and epsilon_a spectra and they exhibit similar temperature behavior. These excitations appearing in the frequency range of magnon branches well below polar phonons could remind electromagnons; however, their temperature dependence is quite different. We have used density functional theory for calculating phonon dispersion branches in the whole Brillouin zone. A detailed analysis of these results and of previously published magnon dispersion branches brought us to the conclusion that the observed absorption bands stem from phonon-phonon and phonon- paramagnon differential absorption processes. The latter is enabled by a strong short-range in-plane spin correlations in the paramagnetic phase.Comment: subm. to PR

Piezomagnetism and Stress Induced Paramagnetic Meissner Effect in Mechanically Loaded High-T_c Granular Superconductors

Two novel phenomena in a weakly coupled granular superconductor under an applied stress are predicted which are based on recently suggested piezophase effect (a macroscopic quantum analog of the piezoelectric effect) in mechanically loaded grain boundary Josephson junctions. Namely, we consider the existence of stress induced paramagnetic moment in zero applied magnetic field (piezomagnetism) and its influence on a low-field magnetization (leading to a mechanically induced paramagnetic Meissner effect). The conditions under which these two effects can be experimentally measured in high-T_$ granular superconductors are discussed.Comment: 4 pages (REVTEX, epsf.sty), 2 PS figure

Deformation-induced thermomagnetic effects in a twisted weak-link-bearing superconductor

Based upon the recently introduced thermophase and piezophase mesoscopic quantum effects in Josephson junctions, several novel phenomena in a twisted superconductor (containing a small annular SIS-type contact) under influence of thermal gradient and applied magnetic field are predicted. Namely, we consider a torsional analog of Josephson piezomagnetism (and related magnetomechanical effect) as well as a possible generation of a heat flux induced magnetic moment in a weakly-coupled superconductor under a torsional deformation (analog of Zavaritskii effect) along with the concomitant phenomena of piezothermopower and piezothermal conductivity. The conditions under which the predicted effects can be experimentally measured in conventional superconductors and nanostructured materials with implanted Josephson contacts are discussed.Comment: REVTEX (5 pages

Analytical modeling of demagnetizing effect in magnetoelectric ferrite/PZT/ferrite trilayers taking into account a mechanical coupling

In this paper, we investigate the demagnetizing effect in ferrite/PZT/ferrite magnetoelectric (ME) trilayer composites consisting of commercial PZT discs bonded by epoxy layers to Ni-Co-Zn ferrite discs made by a reactive Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) technique. ME voltage coefficients (transversal mode) were measured on ferrite/PZT/ferrite trilayer ME samples with different thicknesses or phase volume ratio in order to highlight the influence of the magnetic field penetration governed by these geometrical parameters. Experimental ME coefficients and voltages were compared to analytical calculations using a quasi-static model. Theoretical demagnetizing factors of two magnetic discs that interact together in parallel magnetic structures were derived from an analytical calculation based on a superposition method. These factors were introduced in ME voltage calculations which take account of the demagnetizing effect. To fit the experimental results, a mechanical coupling factor was also introduced in the theoretical formula. This reflects the differential strain that exists in the ferrite and PZT layers due to shear effects near the edge of the ME samples and within the bonding epoxy layers. From this study, an optimization in magnitude of the ME voltage is obtained. Lastly, an analytical calculation of demagnetizing effect was conducted for layered ME composites containing higher numbers of alternated layers (). The advantage of such a structure is then discussed

Theoretical Modelling on the Magnetization by Electric Field Through Product Property.

Multilayer composites of piezoelectric and magnetostrictive materials can be designed to exhibit the magnetoelectric (ME) effect. This ME effect can be realised as an electric polarisation induced by a magnetic field (called MEH effect) or a magnetization by an electric field (called MEE effect). Theoretical modelling of the MEE effect for 2-2 connectivity composites has been developed for three different boundary conditions for perfect coupling at the interface. The calculated MEE coefficients using material properties of piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and magnetostrictive Terfenol-D are a few orders of magnitude larger than those of single phase ME materials and the calculated values are compared with experimental results in the literature. Keywords: magnetoelectric, multiferroic, piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, piezomagnetic, laminated composites, modelling