Electric polarization enhancement in multiferroic CoCr2O4 crystals with Cr-site mixing

Single crystals of multiferroic cobalt chromite Co (Cr2-x Cox) O4 have been grown via several methods to have different Co3+ doping levels (x=0.0, 0.14, and 0.18). Under magnetic fields, all the crystals display electric polarization reversal below their spiral spin ordering temperatures. We find that both saturated electric polarization and magnetization under magnetic fields increase significantly with the increase in x. This result can be qualitatively explained by a broken balance between at least two electric polarization contributions existing in CoCr2 O4 and is expected to be useful in tailoring electric polarization in similar kinds of multiferroics. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.open222

Realization of giant magnetoelectricity in helimagnets

We show that low field magnetoelectric (ME) properties of helimagnets Ba0.5Sr1.5Zn2(Fe1-xAlx)12O22 can be efficiently tailored by Al-substitution level. As x increases, the critical magnetic field for switching electric polarization is systematically reduced from ~1 T down to ~1 mT, and the ME susceptibility is greatly enhanced to reach a giant value of 2.0 x 10^4 ps/m at an optimum x = 0.08. We find that control of nontrivial orbital moment in the octahedral Fe sites through the Al-substitution is crucial for fine tuning of magnetic anisotropy and obtaining the conspicuously improved ME characteristics

Electric field control of nonvolatile four-state magnetization at room temperature

We find the realization of large converse magnetoelectric (ME) effects at room temperature in a multiferroic hexaferrite Ba$_{0.52}$Sr$_{2.48}$Co$_{2}$Fe$_{24}$O$_{41}$ single crystal, in which rapid change of electric polarization in low magnetic fields (about 5 mT) is coined to a large ME susceptibility of 3200 ps/m. The modulation of magnetization then reaches up to 0.62 $\mu$$_{B}$/f.u. in an electric field of 1.14 MV/m. We find further that four ME states induced by different ME poling exhibit unique, nonvolatile magnetization versus electric field curves, which can be approximately described by an effective free energy with a distinct set of ME coefficients

Observation of new magnetic ground state in frustrated quantum antiferromagnet spin-liquid system Cs2CuCl4

Cs2CuCl4 is known to possess a quantum spin-liquid phase with antiferromagnetic interaction below 2.8 K. We report the observation of a new metastable magnetic phase of the triangular frustrated quantum spin system Cs2CuCl4 induced by the application of hydrostatic pressure. We measured the magnetic properties of Cs2CuCl4 following the application and release of pressure after 3 days. We observed a previously unknown ordered magnetic phase with a transition temperature of 9 K. Furthermore, the recovered sample with new magnetic ground state possesses an equivalent crystal structure to the uncompressed one with antiferromagnetic quantum spinliquid phase