TY - JOUR
T1 - Spiral spin structure in the commensurate magnetic phase of multiferroic RMn 2O 5
AU - Kimura, Hiroyuki
AU - Kobayashi, Satoru
AU - Fukuda, Yoshikazu
AU - Osawa, Toshihiro
AU - Kamada, Youichi
AU - Noda, Yukio
AU - Kagomiya, Isao
AU - Kohn, Kay
PY - 2007/7
Y1 - 2007/7
N2 - Crystal and magnetic structure analyses have been performed for single crystals of multiferroic materials RMn 2O 5 (R = Y, Ho, Er) using the neutron diffraction technique. For all the compounds, the magnetic structure in the commensurate magnetic phase, where spontaneous electric polarization occurs, was determined to be a transverse spiral spin structure propagating along the c-axis. The results demonstrate that the spin configuration for Mn 4+ and Mn 3+ ions is essentially the same in all three materials, suggesting that the ferroelectricity of the commensurate magnetic phase originates from the spin configurations of Mn ions. By contrast, the alignment of the induced 4f-moment of Ho 3+ ions is quite different from that of Er 3+ ions, which might give a rich variety of magnetic field response for magnetic and dielectric properties in the RMn 2O 5 system.
AB - Crystal and magnetic structure analyses have been performed for single crystals of multiferroic materials RMn 2O 5 (R = Y, Ho, Er) using the neutron diffraction technique. For all the compounds, the magnetic structure in the commensurate magnetic phase, where spontaneous electric polarization occurs, was determined to be a transverse spiral spin structure propagating along the c-axis. The results demonstrate that the spin configuration for Mn 4+ and Mn 3+ ions is essentially the same in all three materials, suggesting that the ferroelectricity of the commensurate magnetic phase originates from the spin configurations of Mn ions. By contrast, the alignment of the induced 4f-moment of Ho 3+ ions is quite different from that of Er 3+ ions, which might give a rich variety of magnetic field response for magnetic and dielectric properties in the RMn 2O 5 system.
KW - Colossal magnetoelectric effect
KW - Ferroelectricity
KW - Magnetic structure analysis
KW - Multiferroics
KW - Neutron diffraction
KW - Spiral spin structure
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U2 - 10.1143/JPSJ.76.074706
DO - 10.1143/JPSJ.76.074706
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:34547482575
VL - 76
JO - Journal of the Physical Society of Japan
JF - Journal of the Physical Society of Japan
SN - 0031-9015
IS - 7
M1 - 074706
ER -