22,557 research outputs found
Pressure induced enhancement of ferroelectricity in multiferroic MnO(=Tb,Dy, and Ho)
Measurements of ferroelectric polarization and dielectric constant were done
on MnO (=Tb, Dy, and Ho) with applied hydrostatic pressures of up
to 18 kbar. At ambient pressure, distinctive anomalies were observed in the
temperature profile of both physical properties at critical temperatures
marking the onset of long range AFM order (T), ferroelectricity
(T) as well as at temperatures when anomalous changes in the
polarization, dielectric constant and spin wave commensurability have been
previously reported. In particular, the step in the dielectric constant at low
temperatures (T), associated with both a drop in the ferroelectric
polarization and an incommensurate magnetic structure, was shown to be suddenly
quenched upon passing an -dependent critical pressure. This was shown to
correlate with the stabilization of the high ferroelectric polarization state
which is coincident with the commensurate magnetic structure. The observation
is suggested to be due to a pressure induced phase transition into a
commensurate magnetic structure as exemplified by the pressure-temperature
(-) phase diagrams constructed in this work. The - phase diagrams
are determined for all three compounds.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, submitted for review in Phys. Rev.
Strong spin-lattice coupling in multiferroic HoMnO: Thermal expansion anomalies and pressure effect
Evidence for a strong spin-lattice coupling in multiferroic HoMnO_3 is
derived from thermal expansion measurements along a- and c-axis. The
magnetoelastic effect results in sizable anomalies of the thermal expansivities
at the antiferromagnetic (T_N) and the spin rotation (T_{SR}) transition
temperatures as well as in a negative c-axis expansivity below room
temperature. The coupling between magnetic orders and dielectric properties
below T_N is explained by the lattice strain induced by the magnetoelastic
effect. At T_{SR} various physical quantities show discontinuities that are
thermodynamically consistent with a first order phase transition
Low temperature dielectric anomalies in HoMnO_3: The complex phase diagram
The dielectric constant of multiferroic hexagonal HoMnO_3 exhibits an
unprecedented diversity of anomalies at low temperatures (1.8 K< T <10 K) and
under external magnetic fields related to magnetic phase transitions in the
coupled system of Ho moments, Mn spins, and ferroelectric polarization. The
derived phase diagram is far more complex than previously assumed including
reentrant phases, phase transitions with distinct thermal and field hysteresis,
as well as several multicritical points. Magnetoelastic interactions introduce
lattice anomalies at the magnetic phase transitions. The re-evaluation of the
T-H phase diagram of HoMnO_3 is demanded.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
Unusual Field-Dependence of the Intragrain Superconductive Transition in RuSr2EuCu2O8
A narrow intragrain phase-lock transition was observed in RuSr2EuCu2O8 under
a magnetic field H up to a few Tesla. The corresponding transition temperature,
T2, decreases rapidly (about 100 K/T at low fields) with H indicating that the
grains of RuSr2EuCu2O8 behave like a Josephson-junction-array instead of a
homogeneous bulk superconductor. Our data suggest that the bulk superconducting
transition may occur on a length scale well below the grain size of 2 to 6
micrometer
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