Program Highlights

Decoupling of Magnetization and Electric Polarization in Hexagonal Ferrites

Xiaoshan Xu and Peter Dowben
Nebraska MRSEC

Alpha T. N'Diaye
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Magnetoelectric multiferroic materials exhibit multiple switchable properties such as electric and magnetic polarizations. Hexagonal rare earth ferrites (h-RFeO₃, R: rare earth) are multiferroics with ferroelectric, antiferromagnetic, and weak ferromagnetic orders. The coupling between these degrees of freedoms are believed to be promising for application of energy-efficient information storage and processing. Nebraska MRSEC researchers, in collaboration with the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBL), have studied the coupling between the ferromagnetic and ferroelectric orders in h-YbFeO₃, using advanced thin film growth and synchrotron x-ray magnetometry. Decoupling between the magnetization and electric polarization has been observed, suggesting strong interplay between the antiferromagnetic and the ferroelectric orders. These finding advance our understanding of the magnetoelectric coupling in hexagonal ferrites and effects of topology.

This research is supported by the National Science Foundation, Division of Materials Research, Materials Research Science and Engineering Program, Grant DMR-1420645.

A multilayer structure for the measurement of coupling between electric and magnetic degrees of freedom in hexagonal ferrites.