Successive magnetic field-induced transitions and colossal magnetoelectric effect in Ni$_{3}$TeO$_{6}$

Jae Wook Kim; S. Artyukhin; E. D. Mun; M. Jaime; N. Harrison; A. Hansen; J. J. Yang; Y. S. Oh; D. Vanderbilt; V. S. Zapf; S. -W. Cheong

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.115.137201

arXiv · 1509.04715

Successive magnetic field-induced transitions and colossal magnetoelectric effect in Ni$_{3}$TeO$_{6}$

Jae Wook Kim·S. Artyukhin·E. D. Mun·M. Jaime·N. Harrison·A. Hansen·J. J. Yang·Y. S. Oh·D. Vanderbilt·V. S. Zapf·S. -W. Cheong

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Abstract

We report the discovery of a metamagnetic phase transition in a polar antiferromagnet Ni$_3$TeO$_6$ that occurs at 52 T. The new phase transition accompanies a colossal magnetoelectric effect, with a magnetic-field-induced polarization change of 0.3 $μ$C/cm$^2$, a value that is 4 times larger than for the spin-flop transition at 9 T in the same material, and also comparable to the largest magnetically-induced polarization changes observed to date. Via density-functional calculations we construct a full microscopic model that describes the data. We model the spin structures in all fields and clarify the physics behind the 52 T transition. The high-field transition involves a competition between multiple different exchange interactions which drives the polarization change through the exchange-striction mechanism. The resultant spin structure is rather counter-intuitive and complex, thus providing new insights on design principles for materials with strong magnetoelectric coupling.

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Jae Wook Kim, S. Artyukhin, E. D. Mun, M. Jaime, N. Harrison, A. Hansen, J. J. Yang, Y. S. Oh, D. Vanderbilt, V. S. Zapf, S. -W. Cheong. 2015-09-15. Successive magnetic field-induced transitions and colossal magnetoelectric effect in Ni$_{3}$TeO$_{6}$. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.115.137201

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