TY - JOUR
T1 - Multiferroicity in NiBr2 with long-wavelength cycloidal spin structure on a triangular lattice
AU - Tokunaga, Y.
AU - Okuyama, D.
AU - Kurumaji, T.
AU - Arima, T.
AU - Nakao, H.
AU - Murakami, Y.
AU - Taguchi, Y.
AU - Tokura, Y.
PY - 2011/8/26
Y1 - 2011/8/26
N2 - Multiferroic properties have been investigated for single crystals of the triangular-lattice antiferromagnet NiBr2 with long-wavelength (∼7 nm) cycloidal spin structure whose spin-spiral plane is parallel to (001). X-ray diffraction revealed a magnetoelastic lattice modulation with half the periodicity of the magnetic modulation below the cycloidal ordering temperature (TIC∼23 K), indicating the elliptically distorted nature of the transverse helix. Field-reversible spontaneous polarization (P) appears in the [11̄0] direction perpendicular to the spin rotation axis ([001]) below TIC. P shows nontrivial dependence on the magnitude and direction of the poling magnetic field (H), suggesting the possible H selection of the propagation vector of the helix from the sixfold-degenerate directions, even for the in-plane cycloidal spin structure, through magnetic domain control in the higher-temperature spin-collinear antiferromagnetic phase.
AB - Multiferroic properties have been investigated for single crystals of the triangular-lattice antiferromagnet NiBr2 with long-wavelength (∼7 nm) cycloidal spin structure whose spin-spiral plane is parallel to (001). X-ray diffraction revealed a magnetoelastic lattice modulation with half the periodicity of the magnetic modulation below the cycloidal ordering temperature (TIC∼23 K), indicating the elliptically distorted nature of the transverse helix. Field-reversible spontaneous polarization (P) appears in the [11̄0] direction perpendicular to the spin rotation axis ([001]) below TIC. P shows nontrivial dependence on the magnitude and direction of the poling magnetic field (H), suggesting the possible H selection of the propagation vector of the helix from the sixfold-degenerate directions, even for the in-plane cycloidal spin structure, through magnetic domain control in the higher-temperature spin-collinear antiferromagnetic phase.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80052348748&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80052348748&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevB.84.060406
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevB.84.060406
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80052348748
VL - 84
JO - Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
JF - Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
SN - 0163-1829
IS - 6
M1 - 060406
ER -