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Pressure‐Induced Multiferroics via Pseudo Jahn–Teller Effects and Novel Couplings
Author(s) -
Xu Changsong,
Li Yang,
Xu Bin,
Íñiguez Jorge,
Duan Wenhui,
Bellaiche Laurent
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201604513
Subject(s) - multiferroics , materials science , hydrostatic pressure , condensed matter physics , dipole , coupling (piping) , polarization (electrochemistry) , polarization density , phase (matter) , nanotechnology , chemical physics , ferroelectricity , magnetic field , dielectric , optoelectronics , physics , magnetization , thermodynamics , chemistry , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
Multiferroic materials are currently attracting a lot of interest because of the cross‐coupling between their electrical and magnetic properties, which has the potential to lead to novel devices. There is a relatively small number of multiferroics and, hence, various strategies have been proposed to design materials possessing both ordered electric and magnetic dipoles. However, one strategy that has been scarcely investigated so far is the application of hydrostatic pressure because such external factor has the tendency to suppress, rather than enhance or create, electrical polarization. Here, first‐principles calculations are used to demonstrate that hydrostatic pressure can, in fact, stabilize a novel polar and magnetic – and thus multiferroic – phase; the occurrence of such a phase seems very general, as it is found in many presently investigated R MnO 3 compounds, where R is a rare‐earth ion. The predicted structure features original pseudo Jahn–Teller effects that induce a spontaneous electrical polarization via a previously unknown structural coupling of a rather convenient form. Such a discovery opens a new route to create multiferroics and tunable electronic devices.