Spin excitations were studied by absorption spectroscopy in CaBaCo4O7 which
is a type-I multiferroic compound with the largest magnetic-order induced
ferroelectric polarization ({\Delta}P=17mC/m2) reported, so far. We observed
two optical magnon branches: a solely electric dipole allowed one and a mixed
magnetoelectric resonance. The entangled magnetization and polarization
dynamics of the magnetoelectric resonance gives rise to unidirectional light
absorption, i.e. that magnon mode absorbs the electromagnetic radiation for one
propagation direction but not for the opposite direction. Our systematic study
of the magnetic field and temperature dependence of magnon modes provides
information about the energies and symmetries of spin excitations, which is
required to develop a microscopic spin model of CaBaCo4O7.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
