Impact of the various spin- and orbital-ordering processes on the multiferroic properties of orthovanadate DyVO3

The orthovanadate DyVO3 crystal, known to exhibit multiple structural, spin-, and orbital-ordering transitions, is presently investigated on the basis of magnetization, heat capacity, resistivity, dielectric, and polarization measurements. Our main result is experimental evidence for the existence of multiferroicity below a high TC of 108 K over a wide temperature range including different spin-orbital-ordered states. The onset of ferroelectricity is found to coincide with the antiferromagnetic C-type spin-ordering transition taking place at 108 K, which indicates that DyVO3 belongs to type-II multiferroics exhibiting a coupling between magnetism and ferroelectricity. Some anomalies detected on the temperature dependence of electric polarization are discussed with respect to the nature of the spin-orbital-ordered states of the V sublattice and the degree of spin alignment in the Dy sublattice. The orthovanadates RVO3 (R= rare earth or Y) form an important new category for searching for high-TC multiferroics.