Large Linear Magnetoelectric Effect in DyCrO4​

February 23, 2020
Large Linear Magnetoelectric Effect in DyCrO4​
Left: Magnetic structures of DyCrO4 in zero field (top) and in high field state (bottom). Right: (top) Electric polarization as a function of applied field. (bottom) Field dependence of the linear magnetoelectric coefficient α. The transition field is denoted by the red dashed line.​

Scientific Achievement

Scheelite-type DyCrO4 has a low field collinear antiferromagnetic phase with a large linear magnetoelectric effect, with a transition to a high field multiferroic canted antiferromagnetic phase with a sizeable magnetic moment.

Significance and Impact

The work relates the underlying magnetic structure to magnetoelectric effects that have many potential applications, for example in spintronic devices, nonvolatile memories, and high-sensitivity sensors.​

Research Details

  • The temperature and field dependence of magnetoelectric and ferroelectric properties were characterized using standard bulk techniques. ​
  • Neutron diffraction was used to determine the magnetic structures and transitions at different magnetic fields and temperatures.​

“Large linear magnetoelectric effect and field-induced ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity in DyCrO4,”

Xudong Shen, Long Zhou, Yisheng Chai, YanWu, Zhehong Liu, Yunyu Yin, Huibo Cao, Clarina Dela Cruz, Young Sun, Changqing Jin, Angel Muñoz, José Antonio Alonso, and Youwen Long,

NPG Asia Materials, 11, 50 (2019). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41427-019-0151-9