Multiferroics are defined as materials that exhibit more than one of the primary ferroic properties in the same phase: [1]
While ferroelectric ferroelastics and ferromagnetic ferroelastics are formally multiferroics, these days the term is usually used to describe the magnetoelectric multiferroics that are simultaneously ferromagnetic and ferroelectric. [1] Sometimes the definition is expanded to include nonprimary order parameters, such as antiferromagnetism or ferrimagnetism. In addition, other types of primary order, such as ferroic arrangements of magnetoelectric multipoles [2] of which ferrotoroidicity [3] is an example, were proposed.
Besides scientific interest in their physical properties, multiferroics have potential for applications as actuators, switches, magnetic field sensors and new types of electronic memory devices. [4]
A Web of Science search for the term multiferroic yields the year 2000 paper "Why are there so few magnetic ferroelectrics?" [5] from N. A. Spaldin (then Hill) as the earliest result. This work explained the origin of the contraindication between magnetism and ferroelectricity and proposed practical routes to circumvent it, and is widely credited with starting the modern explosion of interest in multiferroic materials. [6] The availability of practical routes to creating multiferroic materials from 2000 [5] stimulated intense activity. Particularly key early works were the discovery of large ferroelectric polarization in epitaxially grown thin films of magnetic BiFeO3, [7] the observation that the non-collinear magnetic ordering in orthorhombic TbMnO3 [8] and TbMn2O5 [9] causes ferroelectricity, and the identification of unusual improper ferroelectricity that is compatible with the coexistence of magnetism in hexagonal manganite YMnO3. [10] The graph to the right shows in red the number of papers on multiferroics from a Web of Science search until 2008; the exponential increase continues today.
To place multiferroic materials in their appropriate historical context, one also needs to consider magnetoelectric materials, in which an electric field modifies the magnetic properties and vice versa. While magnetoelectric materials are not necessarily multiferroic, all ferromagnetic ferroelectric multiferroics are linear magnetoelectrics, with an applied electric field inducing a change in magnetization linearly proportional to its magnitude. Magnetoelectric materials and the corresponding magnetoelectric effect have a longer history than multiferroics, shown in blue in the graph to the right. The first known mention of magnetoelectricity is in the 1959 Edition of Landau & Lifshitz' Electrodynamics of Continuous Media which has the following comment at the end of the section on piezoelectricity: "Let us point out two more phenomena, which, in principle, could exist. One is piezomagnetism, which consists of linear coupling between a magnetic field in a solid and a deformation (analogous to piezoelectricity). The other is a linear coupling between magnetic and electric fields in a media, which would cause, for example, a magnetization proportional to an electric field. Both these phenomena could exist for certain classes of magnetocrystalline symmetry. We will not however discuss these phenomena in more detail because it seems that till present, presumably, they have not been observed in any substance." One year later, I. E. Dzyaloshinskii showed using symmetry arguments that the material Cr2O3 should have linear magnetoelectric behavior, [11] and his prediction was rapidly verified by D. Astrov. [12] Over the next decades, research on magnetoelectric materials continued steadily in a number of groups in Europe, in particular in the former Soviet Union and in the group of H. Schmid at U. Geneva. A series of East-West conferences entitled Magnetoelectric Interaction Phenomena in Crystals (MEIPIC) was held between 1973 (in Seattle) and 2009 (in Santa Barbara), and indeed the term "multi-ferroic magnetoelectric" was first used by H. Schmid in the proceedings of the 1993 MEIPIC conference (in Ascona). [13]
To be defined as ferroelectric, a material must have a spontaneous electric polarization that is switchable by an applied electric field. Usually such an electric polarization arises via an inversion-symmetry-breaking structural distortion from a parent centrosymmetric phase. For example, in the prototypical ferroelectric barium titanate, BaTiO3, the parent phase is the ideal cubic ABO3 perovskite structure, with the B-site Ti4+ ion at the center of its oxygen coordination octahedron and no electric polarisation. In the ferroelectric phase the Ti4+ ion is shifted away from the center of the octahedron causing a polarization. Such a displacement only tends to be favourable when the B-site cation has an electron configuration with an empty d shell (a so-called d0 configuration), which favours energy-lowering covalent bond formation between the B-site cation and the neighbouring oxygen anions. [5]
This "d0-ness" requirement [5] is a clear obstacle for the formation of multiferroics, since the magnetism in most transition-metal oxides arises from the presence of partially filled transition metal d shells. As a result, in most multiferroics, the ferroelectricity has a different origin. The following describes the mechanisms that are known to circumvent this contraindication between ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity. [14]
In lone-pair-active multiferroics, [5] the ferroelectric displacement is driven by the A-site cation, and the magnetism arises from a partially filled d shell on the B site. Examples include bismuth ferrite, BiFeO3, [15] BiMnO3 (although this is believed to be anti-polar), [16] and PbVO3. [17] In these materials, the A-site cation (Bi3+, Pb2+) has a so-called stereochemically active 6s2 lone-pair of electrons, and off-centering of the A-site cation is favoured by an energy-lowering electron sharing between the formally empty A-site 6p orbitals and the filled O 2p orbitals. [18]
In geometric ferroelectrics, the driving force for the structural phase transition leading to the polar ferroelectric state is a rotational distortion of the polyhedra rather than an electron-sharing covalent bond formation. Such rotational distortions occur in many transition-metal oxides; in the perovskites for example they are common when the A-site cation is small, so that the oxygen octahedra collapse around it. In perovskites, the three-dimensional connectivity of the polyhedra means that no net polarization results; if one octahedron rotates to the right, its connected neighbor rotates to the left and so on. In layered materials, however, such rotations can lead to a net polarization.
The prototypical geometric ferroelectrics are the layered barium transition metal fluorides, BaMF4, M=Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, which have a ferroelectric transition at around 1000K and a magnetic transition to an antiferromagnetic state at around 50K. [19] Since the distortion is not driven by a hybridisation between the d-site cation and the anions, it is compatible with the existence of magnetism on the B site, thus allowing for multiferroic behavior. [20]
A second example is provided by the family of hexagonal rare earth manganites (h-RMnO3 with R=Ho-Lu, Y), which have a structural phase transition at around 1300 K consisting primarily of a tilting of the MnO5 bipyramids. [10] While the tilting itself has zero polarization, it couples to a polar corrugation of the R-ion layers which yields a polarisation of ~6 μC/cm2. Since the ferroelectricity is not the primary order parameter it is described as improper. The multiferroic phase is reached at ~100K when a triangular antiferromagnetic order due to spin frustration arises. [21] [22]
Charge ordering can occur in compounds containing ions of mixed valence when the electrons, which are delocalised at high temperature, localize in an ordered pattern on different cation sites so that the material becomes insulating. When the pattern of localized electrons is polar, the charge ordered state is ferroelectric. Usually the ions in such a case are magnetic and so the ferroelectric state is also multiferroic. [23] The first proposed example of a charge ordered multiferroic was LuFe2O4, which charge orders at 330 K with an arrangement of Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions. [24] Ferrimagnetic ordering occurs below 240 K. Whether or not the charge ordering is polar has recently been questioned, however. [25] In addition, charge ordered ferroelectricity is suggested in magnetite, Fe3O4, below its Verwey transition, [26] and (Pr,Ca)MnO3. [23]
In magnetically driven multiferroics [27] the macroscopic electric polarization is induced by long-range magnetic order which is non-centrosymmetric. Formally, the electric polarisation, , is given in terms of the magnetization, , by
.
Like the geometric ferroelectrics discussed above, the ferroelectricity is improper, because the polarisation is not the primary order parameter (in this case the primary order is the magnetisation) for the ferroic phase transition.
The prototypical example is the formation of the non-centrosymmetric magnetic spiral state, accompanied by a small ferroelectric polarization, below 28K in TbMnO3. [8] In this case the polarization is small, 10−2 μC/cm2, because the mechanism coupling the non-centrosymmetric spin structure to the crystal lattice is the weak spin-orbit coupling. Larger polarizations occur when the non-centrosymmetric magnetic ordering is caused by the stronger superexchange interaction, such as in orthorhombic HoMnO3 and related materials. [28] In both cases the magnetoelectric coupling is strong because the ferroelectricity is directly caused by the magnetic order.
While most magnetoelectric multiferroics developed to date have conventional transition-metal d-electron magnetism and a novel mechanism for the ferroelectricity, it is also possible to introduce a different type of magnetism into a conventional ferroelectric. The most obvious route is to use a rare-earth ion with a partially filled shell of f electrons on the A site. An example is EuTiO3 which, while not ferroelectric under ambient conditions, becomes so when strained a little bit, [29] or when its lattice constant is expanded for example by substituting some barium on the A site. [30]
It remains a challenge to develop good single-phase multiferroics with large magnetization and polarization and strong coupling between them at room temperature. Therefore, composites combining magnetic materials, such as FeRh, [31] with ferroelectric materials, such as PMN-PT, are an attractive and established route to achieving multiferroicity. Some examples include magnetic thin films on piezoelectric PMN-PT substrates and Metglass/PVDF/Metglass trilayer structures. [32] Recently an interesting layer-by-layer growth of an atomic-scale multiferroic composite has been demonstrated, consisting of individual layers of ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic LuFeO3 alternating with ferrimagnetic but non-polar LuFe2O4 in a superlattice. [33]
A new promising approach are core-shell type ceramics where a magnetoelectric composite is formed in-situ during synthesis. In the system (BiFe0.9Co0.1O3)0.4-(Bi1/2K1/2TiO3)0.6 (BFC-BKT) very strong ME coupling has been observed on a microscopic scale using PFM under magnetic field. Furthermore, switching of magnetization via electric field has been observed using MFM. [34] Here, the ME active core-shell grains consist of magnetic CoFe2O4 (CFO) cores and a (BiFeO3)0.6-(Bi1/2K1/2TiO3)0.4 (BFO-BKT) shell where core and shell have an epitaxial lattice structure. [35] The mechanism of strong ME coupling is via magnetic exchange interaction between CFO and BFO across the core-shell interface, which results in an exceptionally high Neel-Temperature of 670 K of the BF-BKT phase.
There have been reports of large magnetoelectric coupling at room-temperature in type-I multiferroics such as in the "diluted" magnetic perovskite (PbZr0.53Ti0.47O3)0.6–(PbFe1/2Ta1/2O3)0.4 (PZTFT) in certain Aurivillius phases. Here, strong ME coupling has been observed on a microscopic scale using PFM under magnetic field among other techniques. [36] [37] Organic-inorganic hybrid multiferroics have been reported in the family of metal-formate perovskites, [38] as well as molecular multiferroics such as [(CH3)2NH2][Ni(HCOO)3], with elastic strain-mediated coupling between the order parameters. [39]
A helpful classification scheme for multiferroics into so-called type-I and type-II multiferroics was introduced in 2009 by D. Khomskii. [40]
Khomskii suggested the term type-I multiferroic for materials in which the ferroelectricity and magnetism occur at different temperatures and arise from different mechanisms. Usually the structural distortion which gives rise to the ferroelectricity occurs at high temperature, and the magnetic ordering, which is usually antiferromagnetic, sets in at lower temperature. The prototypical example is BiFeO3 (TC=1100 K, TN=643 K), with the ferroelectricity driven by the stereochemically active lone pair of the Bi3+ ion and the magnetic ordering caused by the usual superexchange mechanism. YMnO3 [41] (TC=914 K, TN=76 K) is also type-I, although its ferroelectricity is so-called "improper", meaning that it is a secondary effect arising from another (primary) structural distortion. The independent emergence of magnetism and ferroelectricity means that the domains of the two properties can exist independently of each other. Most type-I multiferroics show a linear magnetoelectric response, as well as changes in dielectric susceptibility at the magnetic phase transition.
The term type-II multiferroic is used for materials in which the magnetic ordering breaks the inversion symmetry and directly "causes" the ferroelectricity. In this case the ordering temperatures for the two phenomena are identical. The prototypical example is TbMnO3, [42] in which a non-centrosymmetric magnetic spiral accompanied by a ferroelectric polarization sets in at 28 K. Since the same transition causes both effects they are by construction strongly coupled. The ferroelectric polarizations tend to be orders of magnitude smaller than those of the type-I multiferroics however, typically of the order of 10−2 μC/cm2. [40] The opposite effect has also been reported, in the Mott insulating charge-transfer salt –(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)
2]Cl. [43] Here, a charge-ordering transition to a polar ferroelectric case drives a magnetic ordering, again giving an intimate coupling between the ferroelectric and, in this case antiferromagnetic, orders.
The formation of a ferroic order is always associated with the breaking of a symmetry. For example, the symmetry of spatial inversion is broken when ferroelectrics develop their electric dipole moment, and time reversal is broken when ferromagnets become magnetic. The symmetry breaking can be described by an order parameter, the polarization P and magnetization M in these two examples, and leads to multiple equivalent ground states which can be selected by the appropriate conjugate field; electric or magnetic for ferroelectrics or ferromagnets respectively. This leads for example to the familiar switching of magnetic bits using magnetic fields in magnetic data storage.
Ferroics are often characterized by the behavior of their order parameters under space inversion and time reversal (see table). The operation of space inversion reverses the direction of polarisation (so the phenomenon of polarisation is space-inversion antisymmetric) while leaving the magnetisation invariant. As a result, non-polar ferromagnets and ferroelastics are invariant under space inversion whereas polar ferroelectrics are not. The operation of time reversal, on the other hand, changes the sign of M (which is therefore time-reversal antisymmetric), while the sign of P remains invariant. Therefore, non-magnetic ferroelastics and ferroelectrics are invariant under time reversal whereas ferromagnets are not.
Space-inversion symmetric | Space-inversion antisymmetric | |
Time-reversal symmetric | Ferroelastic | Ferroelectric |
Time-reversal antisymmetric | Ferromagnetic | Magnetoelectric multiferroic |
Magnetoelectric multiferroics are both space-inversion and time-reversal anti-symmetric since they are both ferromagnetic and ferroelectric.
The combination of symmetry breakings in multiferroics can lead to coupling between the order parameters, so that one ferroic property can be manipulated with the conjugate field of the other. Ferroelastic ferroelectrics, for example, are piezoelectric, meaning that an electric field can cause a shape change or a pressure can induce a voltage, and ferroelastic ferromagnets show the analogous piezomagnetic behavior. Particularly appealing for potential technologies is the control of the magnetism with an electric field in magnetoelectric multiferroics, since electric fields have lower energy requirements than their magnetic counterparts.
The main technological driver for the exploration of multiferroics has been their potential for controlling magnetism using electric fields via their magneto electric coupling. Such a capability could be technologically transformative, since the production of electric fields is far less energy intensive than the production of magnetic fields (which in turn require electric currents) that are used in most existing magnetism-based technologies. There have been successes in controlling the orientation of magnetism using an electric field, for example in heterostructures of conventional ferromagnetic metals and multiferroic BiFeO3, [44] as well as in controlling the magnetic state, for example from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic in FeRh. [45]
In multiferroic thin films, the coupled magnetic and ferroelectric order parameters can be exploited for developing magnetoelectronic devices. These include novel spintronic devices such as tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors and spin valves with electric field tunable functions. A typical TMR device consists of two layers of ferromagnetic materials separated by a thin tunnel barrier (~2 nm) made of a multiferroic thin film. [46] In such a device, spin transport across the barrier can be electrically tuned. In another configuration, a multiferroic layer can be used as the exchange bias pinning layer. If the antiferromagnetic spin orientations in the multiferroic pinning layer can be electrically tuned, then magnetoresistance of the device can be controlled by the applied electric field. [47] One can also explore multiple state memory elements, where data are stored both in the electric and the magnetic polarizations.
Multiferroic composite structures in bulk form are explored for high-sensitivity ac magnetic field sensors and electrically tunable microwave devices such as filters, oscillators and phase shifters (in which the ferri-, ferro- or antiferro-magnetic resonance is tuned electrically instead of magnetically). [48]
Multiferroics have been used to address fundamental questions in cosmology and particle physics. [49] In the first, the fact that an individual electron is an ideal multiferroic, with any electric dipole moment required by symmetry to adopt the same axis as its magnetic dipole moment, has been exploited to search for the electric dipole moment of the electron. Using the designed multiferroic material (Eu,Ba)TiO3, the change in net magnetic moment on switching of the ferroelectric polarisation in an applied electric field was monitored, allowing an upper bound on the possible value of the electron electric dipole moment to be extracted. [50] This quantity is important because it reflects the amount of time-reversal (and hence CP) symmetry breaking in the universe, which imposes severe constraints on theories of elementary particle physics. In a second example, the unusual improper geometric ferroelectric phase transition in the hexagonal manganites has been shown to have symmetry characteristics in common with proposed early universe phase transitions. [51] As a result, the hexagonal manganites can be used to run experiments in the laboratory to test various aspects of early universe physics. [52] In particular, a proposed mechanism for cosmic-string formation has been verified, [52] and aspects of cosmic string evolution are being explored through observation of their multiferroic domain intersection analogues.
A number of other unexpected applications have been identified in the last few years, mostly in multiferroic bismuth ferrite, that do not seem to be directly related to the coupled magnetism and ferroelectricity. These include a photovoltaic effect, [53] photocatalysis, [54] and gas sensing behaviour. [55] It is likely that the combination of ferroelectric polarisation, with the small band gap composed partially of transition-metal d states are responsible for these favourable properties.
Multiferroic films with appropriate band gap structure into solar cells was developed which results in high energy conversion efficiency due to efficient ferroelectric polarization driven carrier separation and overband spacing generation photo-voltage. Various films have been researched, and there is also a new approach to effectively adjust the band gap of the double perovskite multilayer oxide by engineering the cation order for Bi2FeCrO6. [56]
Recently it was pointed out that, in the same way that electric polarisation can be generated by spatially varying magnetic order, magnetism can be generated by a temporally varying polarisation. The resulting phenomenon was called Dynamical Multiferroicity. [57] The magnetisation, is given by
where is the polarisation and the indicates the vector product. The dynamical multiferroicity formalism underlies the following diverse range of phenomena: [57]
The study of dynamics in multiferroic systems is concerned with understanding the time evolution of the coupling between various ferroic orders, in particular under external applied fields. Current research in this field is motivated both by the promise of new types of application reliant on the coupled nature of the dynamics, and the search for new physics lying at the heart of the fundamental understanding of the elementary MF excitations. An increasing number of studies of MF dynamics are concerned with the coupling between electric and magnetic order parameters in the magnetoelectric multiferroics. In this class of materials, the leading research is exploring, both theoretically and experimentally, the fundamental limits (e.g. intrinsic coupling velocity, coupling strength, materials synthesis) of the dynamical magnetoelectric coupling and how these may be both reached and exploited for the development of new technologies.
At the heart of the proposed technologies based on magnetoelectric coupling are switching processes, which describe the manipulation of the material's macroscopic magnetic properties with electric field and vice versa. Much of the physics of these processes is described by the dynamics of domains and domain walls. An important goal of current research is the minimization of the switching time, from fractions of a second ("quasi"-static regime), towards the nanosecond range and faster, the latter being the typical time scale needed for modern electronics, such as next generation memory devices.
Ultrafast processes operating at picosecond, femtosecond, and even attosecond scale are both driven by, and studied using, optical methods that are at the front line of modern science. The physics underpinning the observations at these short time scales is governed by non-equilibrium dynamics, and usually makes use of resonant processes. One demonstration of ultrafast processes is the switching from collinear antiferromagnetic state to spiral antiferromagnetic state in CuO under excitation by 40 fs 800 nm laser pulse. [62] A second example shows the possibility for the direct control of spin waves with THz radiation on antiferromagnetic NiO. [63] These are promising demonstrations of how the switching of electric and magnetic properties in multiferroics, mediated by the mixed character of the magnetoelectric dynamics, may lead to ultrafast data processing, communication and quantum computing devices.
Current research into MF dynamics aims to address various open questions; the practical realisation and demonstration of ultra-high speed domain switching, the development of further new applications based on tunable dynamics, e.g. frequency dependence of dielectric properties, the fundamental understanding of the mixed character of the excitations (e.g. in the ME case, mixed phonon-magnon modes – 'electromagnons'), and the potential discovery of new physics associated with the MF coupling.
Like any ferroic material, a multiferroic system is fragmented into domains. A domain is a spatially extended region with a constant direction and phase of its order parameters. Neighbouring domains are separated by transition regions called domain walls.
In contrast to materials with a single ferroic order, domains in multiferroics have additional properties and functionalities. For instance, they are characterized by an assembly of at least two order parameters. [64] The order parameters may be independent (typical yet not mandatory for a Type-I multiferroic) or coupled (mandatory for a Type-II multiferroic).
Many outstanding properties that distinguish domains in multiferroics from those in materials with a single ferroic order are consequences of the coupling between the order parameters.
These issues lead to novel functionalities which explain the current interest in these materials.
Domain walls are spatially extended regions of transition mediating the transfer of the order parameter from one domain to another. In comparison to the domains the domain walls are not homogeneous and they can have a lower symmetry. This may modify the properties of a multiferroic and the coupling of its order parameters. Multiferroic domain walls may display particular static [66] and dynamic [67] properties.
Static properties refer to stationary walls. They can result from
Multiferroic properties can appear in a large variety of materials. Therefore, several conventional material fabrication routes are used, including solid state synthesis, [69] hydrothermal synthesis, sol-gel processing, vacuum based deposition, and floating zone.
Some types of multiferroics require more specialized processing techniques, such as
Most multiferroic materials identified to date are transition-metal oxides, which are compounds made of (usually 3d) transition metals with oxygen and often an additional main-group cation. Transition-metal oxides are a favorable class of materials for identifying multiferroics for a few reasons:
Many multiferroics have the perovskite structure. This is in part historical – most of the well-studied ferroelectrics are perovskites – and in part because of the high chemical versatility of the structure.
Below is a list of some the most well-studied multiferroics with their ferroelectric and magnetic ordering temperatures. When a material shows more than one ferroelectric or magnetic phase transition, the most relevant for the multiferroic behavior is given.
Material | Ferroelectric TC [K] | magnetic TN or TC [K] | Type of ferroelectricity |
---|---|---|---|
BiFeO3 | 1100 | 653 | lone pair |
h-YMnO3 | 920 [70] [71] | 80 | geometric (improper) |
BaNiF4 | geometric (proper) | ||
PbVO3 | lone pair | ||
BiMnO3 | lone pair | ||
LuFe2O4 | charge ordered | ||
HoMn2O5 | 39 [72] | magnetically driven | |
h-HoMnO3 | 873 [71] | 76 | geometric (improper) |
h-ScMnO3 | 129 [71] | geometric (improper) | |
h-ErMnO3 | 833 [71] | 80 | geometric (improper) |
h-TmMnO3 | >573 [71] | 86 | geometric (improper) |
h-YbMnO3 | 993 [71] | 87 | geometric (improper) |
h-LuMnO3 | >750 [71] | 96 | geometric (improper) |
K2SeO4 | geometric | ||
Cs2CdI4 | geometric | ||
TbMnO3 | 27 | 42 [73] | magnetically driven |
Ni3V2O8 | 6.5 [74] | ||
MnWO4 | 13.5 [75] | magnetically driven | |
CuO | 230 [76] | 230 | magnetically driven |
ZnCr2Se4 | 110 [77] | 20 | |
LiCu2O2 | [78] | ||
Ni3B7O13I | [79] |
France 24 documentary "Nicola Spaldin: The pioneer behind multiferroics" (12 minutes) Nicola Spaldin: The pioneer behind multiferroics
Seminar "Electric field control of magnetism" by R. Ramesh at U Michigan (1 hour) Ramamoorthy Ramesh | Electric Field Control of Magnetism
Max Roessler prize for multiferroics at ETH Zürich (5 minutes): Nicola Spaldin, Professor of Materials Theory at ETH Zurich
ICTP Colloquium "From materials to cosmology; Studying the early universe under the microscope" by Nicola Spaldin (1 hour) From Materials to Cosmology: Studying the early universe under the microscope - ICTP COLLOQUIUM
Tsuyoshi Kimura's research on "Toward highly functional devices using mulitferroics" (4 minutes): Toward highly functional devices using multi-ferroics
"Strong correlation between electricity and magnetism in materials" by Yoshi Tokura (45 minutes): 4th Kyoto Prize Symposium [Materials Science and Engineering Yoshinori Tokura, July 2, 2017]
"Breaking the wall to the next material age", Falling Walls, Berlin (15 minutes): How Materials Science Heralds a New Class of Technologies | NICOLA SPALDIN
Ferroelectricity is a characteristic of certain materials that have a spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by the application of an external electric field. All ferroelectrics are also piezoelectric and pyroelectric, with the additional property that their natural electrical polarization is reversible. The term is used in analogy to ferromagnetism, in which a material exhibits a permanent magnetic moment. Ferromagnetism was already known when ferroelectricity was discovered in 1920 in Rochelle salt by Joseph Valasek. Thus, the prefix ferro, meaning iron, was used to describe the property despite the fact that most ferroelectric materials do not contain iron. Materials that are both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic are known as multiferroics.
Spintronics, also known as spin electronics, is the study of the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electronic charge, in solid-state devices. The field of spintronics concerns spin-charge coupling in metallic systems; the analogous effects in insulators fall into the field of multiferroics.
The spin Hall effect (SHE) is a transport phenomenon predicted by Russian physicists Mikhail I. Dyakonov and Vladimir I. Perel in 1971. It consists of the appearance of spin accumulation on the lateral surfaces of an electric current-carrying sample, the signs of the spin directions being opposite on the opposing boundaries. In a cylindrical wire, the current-induced surface spins will wind around the wire. When the current direction is reversed, the directions of spin orientation is also reversed.
Helimagnetism is a form of magnetic ordering where spins of neighbouring magnetic moments arrange themselves in a spiral or helical pattern, with a characteristic turn angle of somewhere between 0 and 180 degrees. It results from the competition between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions. It is possible to view ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism as helimagnetic structures with characteristic turn angles of 0 and 180 degrees respectively. Helimagnetic order breaks spatial inversion symmetry, as it can be either left-handed or right-handed in nature.
Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3, also commonly referred to as BFO in materials science) is an inorganic chemical compound with perovskite structure and one of the most promising multiferroic materials. The room-temperature phase of BiFeO3 is classed as rhombohedral belonging to the space group R3c. It is synthesized in bulk and thin film form and both its antiferromagnetic (G type ordering) Néel temperature (approximately 653 K) and ferroelectric Curie temperature are well above room temperature (approximately 1100K). Ferroelectric polarization occurs along the pseudocubic direction () with a magnitude of 90–95 μC/cm2.
Gallium manganese arsenide, chemical formula (Ga,Mn)As is a magnetic semiconductor. It is based on the world's second most commonly used semiconductor, gallium arsenide,, and readily compatible with existing semiconductor technologies. Differently from other dilute magnetic semiconductors, such as the majority of those based on II-VI semiconductors, it is not paramagnetic but ferromagnetic, and hence exhibits hysteretic magnetization behavior. This memory effect is of importance for the creation of persistent devices. In (Ga,Mn)As, the manganese atoms provide a magnetic moment, and each also acts as an acceptor, making it a p-type material. The presence of carriers allows the material to be used for spin-polarized currents. In contrast, many other ferromagnetic magnetic semiconductors are strongly insulating and so do not possess free carriers. (Ga,Mn)As is therefore a candidate material for spintronic devices but it is likely to remain only a testbed for basic research as its Curie temperature could only be raised up to approximately 200 K.
Ferromagnetic superconductors are materials that display intrinsic coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity. They include UGe2, URhGe, and UCoGe. Evidence of ferromagnetic superconductivity was also reported for ZrZn2 in 2001, but later reports question these findings. These materials exhibit superconductivity in proximity to a magnetic quantum critical point.
In its most general form, the magnetoelectric effect (ME) denotes any coupling between the magnetic and the electric properties of a material. The first example of such an effect was described by Wilhelm Röntgen in 1888, who found that a dielectric material moving through an electric field would become magnetized. A material where such a coupling is intrinsically present is called a magnetoelectric.
In Physics, antisymmetric exchange, also known as the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI), is a contribution to the total magnetic exchange interaction between two neighboring magnetic spins, and . Quantitatively, it is a term in the Hamiltonian which can be written as
In electromagnetism, a toroidal moment is an independent term in the multipole expansion of electromagnetic fields besides magnetic and electric multipoles. In the electrostatic multipole expansion, all charge and current distributions can be expanded into a complete set of electric and magnetic multipole coefficients. However, additional terms arise in an electrodynamic multipole expansion. The coefficients of these terms are given by the toroidal multipole moments as well as time derivatives of the electric and magnetic multipole moments. While electric dipoles can be understood as separated charges and magnetic dipoles as circular currents, axial toroidal dipoles describes toroidal (donut-shaped) charge arrangements whereas polar toroidal dipole correspond to the field of a solenoid bent into a torus.
A domain wall is a term used in physics which can have similar meanings in magnetism, optics, or string theory. These phenomena can all be generically described as topological solitons which occur whenever a discrete symmetry is spontaneously broken.
The interface between lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO3) and strontium titanate (SrTiO3) is a notable materials interface because it exhibits properties not found in its constituent materials. Individually, LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 are non-magnetic insulators, yet LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces can exhibit electrical metallic conductivity, superconductivity, ferromagnetism, large negative in-plane magnetoresistance, and giant persistent photoconductivity. The study of how these properties emerge at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface is a growing area of research in condensed matter physics.
Nicola Ann Spaldin FRS is professor of materials science at ETH Zurich, known for her pioneering research on multiferroics.
A polar metal, metallic ferroelectric, or ferroelectric metal is a metal that contains an electric dipole moment. Its components have an ordered electric dipole. Such metals should be unexpected, because the charge should conduct by way of the free electrons in the metal and neutralize the polarized charge. However they do exist. Probably the first report of a polar metal was in single crystals of the cuprate superconductors YBa2Cu3O7−δ. A polarization was observed along one (001) axis by pyroelectric effect measurements, and the sign of the polarization was shown to be reversible, while its magnitude could be increased by poling with an electric field. The polarization was found to disappear in the superconducting state. The lattice distortions responsible were considered to be a result of oxygen ion displacements induced by doped charges that break inversion symmetry. The effect was utilized for fabrication of pyroelectric detectors for space applications, having the advantage of large pyroelectric coefficient and low intrinsic resistance. Another substance family that can produce a polar metal is the nickelate perovskites. One example interpreted to show polar metallic behavior is lanthanum nickelate, LaNiO3. A thin film of LaNiO3 grown on the (111) crystal face of lanthanum aluminate, (LaAlO3) was interpreted to be both conductor and a polar material at room temperature. The resistivity of this system, however, shows an upturn with decreasing temperature, hence does not strictly adhere to the definition of a metal. Also, when grown 3 or 4 unit cells thick (1-2 nm) on the (100) crystal face of LaAlO3, the LaNiO3 can be a polar insulator or polar metal depending on the atomic termination of the surface. Lithium osmate, LiOsO3 also undergoes a ferrorelectric transition when it is cooled below 140K. The point group changes from R3c to R3c losing its centrosymmetry. At room temperature and below, lithium osmate is an electric conductor, in single crystal, polycrystalline or powder forms, and the ferroelectric form only appears below 140K. Above 140K the material behaves like a normal metal. Artificial two-dimensional polar metal by charge transfer to a ferroelectric insulator has been realized in LaAlO3/Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3/SrTiO3 complex oxide heterostructures.
Magnetic 2D materials or magnetic van der Waals materials are two-dimensional materials that display ordered magnetic properties such as antiferromagnetism or ferromagnetism. After the discovery of graphene in 2004, the family of 2D materials has grown rapidly. There have since been reports of several related materials, all except for magnetic materials. But since 2016 there have been numerous reports of 2D magnetic materials that can be exfoliated with ease just like graphene.
Mohindar Singh Seehra is an Indian-American Physicist, academic and researcher. He is Eberly Distinguished Professor Emeritus at West Virginia University (WVU).
Igor Ekhielevich Dzyaloshinskii, was a Russian theoretical physicist, known for his research on "magnetism, multiferroics, one-dimensional conductors, liquid crystals, van der Waals forces, and applications of methods of quantum field theory". In particular he is known for the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.
Elbio Rubén Dagotto is an Argentinian-American theoretical physicist and academic. He is a distinguished professor in the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Distinguished Scientist in the Materials Science and Technology Division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Je-Geun Park is a physicist in the Republic of Korea. He is a condensed matter physicist known for his work on wide-ranging problems of magnetism, in particular strongly correlated electron systems. He is credited with discovering a new class of magnetic 2D materials, also known as van der Waals magnets. He has worked as a professor at Seoul National University.
Ravinder Kumar Kotnala known as R.K. Kotnala is an Indian scientist. He is known for his work on technologies like Hydroelectric Cell, Solar Cell, Magnetic Materials & Magnetic Field Measurements and many others. In his 40 years of career as a scientist, Kotnala served in many organizations such as National Physical Laboratory, Department of Atomic Energy, and National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). Kotnala was selected in the World Ranking of Top 2% Scientists published by Stanford University in 2021.