Magnetically Driven Ferroelectric Order in Ni\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3eV\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e8\u3c/sub\u3e

We show that long-range ferroelectric and incommensurate magnetic order appear simultaneously in a single phase transition in Ni3V2O8. The temperature and magnetic-field dependence of the spontaneous polarization show a strong coupling between magnetic and ferroelectric orders. We determine the magnetic symmetry using Landau theory for continuous phase transitions, which shows that the spin structure alone can break spatial inversion symmetry leading to ferroelectric order. This phenomenological theory explains our experimental observation that the spontaneous polarization is restricted to lie along the crystal b axis and predicts that the magnitude should be proportional to a magnetic order parameter

Complex Magnetic Order in the Kagomé Staircase Compound Co\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3eV\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e8\u3c/sub\u3e

Co3V2O8 (CVO) has a different type of geometrically frustrated magnetic lattice, a kagomé staircase, where the full frustration of a conventional kagomé lattice is partially relieved. The crystal structure consists of two inequivalent (magnetic) Co sites, one-dimensional chains of Co(2) spine sites, linked by Co(1) cross-tie sites. Neutron powder diffraction has been used to solve the basic magnetic and crystal structures of this system, while polarized and unpolarized single crystal diffraction measurements have been used to reveal a rich variety of incommensurate phases, interspersed with lock-in transitions to commensurate phases. CVO initially orders magnetically at 11.3K into an incommensurate, transversely polarized, spin density wave state, with wave vector k=(0,δ,0) with δ=0.55 and the spin direction along the a axis. δ is found to decrease monotonically with decreasing temperature and then locks into a commensurate antiferromagnetic structure with δ=1/2 for 6.9\u3cT\u3c8.6K. In this phase, there is a ferromagnetic layer where the spine site and cross-tie sites have ordered moments of 1.39μB and 1.17μB, respectively, and an antiferromagnetic layer where the spine-site has an ordered moment of 2.55μB, while the cross-tie sites are fully frustrated and have no observable ordered moment. Below 6.9K, the magnetic structure becomes incommensurate again, and the presence of higher-order satellite peaks indicates that the magnetic structure deviates from a simple sinusoid. δ continues to decrease with decreasing temperature and locks in again at δ=1/3 over a narrow temperature range (6.2\u3cT\u3c6.5K). The system then undergoes a strongly first-order transition to the ferromagnetic ground state (δ=0) at Tc=6.2K. The ferromagnetism partially relieves the cross-tie site frustration, with ordered moments on the spine-site and cross-tie sites of 2.73μB and 1.54μB, respectively. The spin direction for all spins is along the a axis (Ising-like behavior). A dielectric anomaly is observed around the ferromagnetic transition temperature of 6.2K, demonstrating that there is significant spin-charge coupling present in CVO. A theory based on group theory analysis and a minimal Ising model with competing exchange interactions can explain the basic features of the magnetic ordering

Field Dependence of Magnetic Ordering in Kagomé-Staircase Compound Ni\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3eV\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e8\u3c/sub\u3e

We present powder and single-crystal neutron diffraction and bulk measurements of the Kagomé-staircase compound Ni3V2O8 (NVO) in fields up to 8.5T applied along the c direction. (The Kagomé plane is the a−c plane.) This system contains two types of Ni ions, which we call “spine” and “cross-tie.” Our neutron measurements can be described with the paramagnetic space group Cmca for T\u3c15K and each observed magnetically ordered phase is characterized by the appropriate irreducible representation(s). Our zero-field measurements show that at TPH=9.1K NVO undergoes a transition to a predominantly longitudinal incommensurate structure in which the spine spins are nearly along the a-axis. At THL=6.3K, there is a transition to an elliptically polarized incommensurate structure with both spine and cross-tie moments in the a−b plane. At TLC=4K the system undergoes a first-order phase transition to a commensurate antiferromagnetic structure with the staggered magnetization primarily along the a-axis and a weak ferromagnetic moment along the c-axis. A specific heat anomaly at TCC′=2.3K indicates an additional transition, which remarkably does not affect Bragg peaks of the commensurate C structure. Neutron, specific heat, and magnetization measurements produce a comprehensive temperature-field phase diagram. The symmetries of the incommensurate magnetic phases are consistent with the observation that only one phase is electrically polarized. The magnetic structures are explained theoretically using a simplified model Hamiltonian, that involves competing nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor exchange interactions, single-ion anisotropy, pseudodipolar interactions, and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions

Spin entropy as the likely source of enhanced thermopower in $\rm\bf Na_xCo_2O_4

In an electric field, the flow of electrons in a solid produces an entropy current in addition to the familiar charge current. This Peltier effect underlies all thermoelectric refrigerators. The upsurge in thermoelectric cooling applications has led to a search for more efficient Peltier materials and to renewed theoretical interest in how electron-electron interaction may enhance the thermopower $Q$ of materials such as the transition-metal oxides \cite{Mahan,Beni,Kotliar,Chaikin}. An important factor in this enhancement is the electronic spin entropy, which is predicted \cite{Chaikin,Kwak,KwakChaikin} to dominate the entropy current. Here we report evidence for such suppression in the layered oxide $\rm Na_xCo_2O_4$, and present evidence that it is a strong-correlation effect.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, already publishe