Spin noncollinearlity in multiferroic phase of triangular lattice antiferromagnet CuFe1-xAlxO2

Taro Nakajima, Setsuo Mitsuda, Shunsuke Kanetsuki, Karel Prokes, Andrei Podlesnyak, Hiroyuki Kimura, Yukio Noda

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Abstract

We report a neutron diffraction study of the magnetic field- and impurity-induced ferroelectric states of the triangular lattice antiferromagnet CuFe1-xAlxO2. The magnetic structure of the ferroelectric phase was elucidated to be not a cycloidal structure, which can successfully lead to the electric polarization through the formula P ∝ eij x (Si x Sj) [H. Katsura et al.: Phys. Rev. Lett. 95 (2005) 057205], but a proper helical structure. Nevertheless, the fact that the helical magnetic ordering appears only in the ferroelectric phase among various magnetically ordered phases of CuFe1-xAlxO 2 strongly suggests that a spin noncollinearlity is relevant to the multiferroic nature in CuFe1-xAlxO2.

Original languageEnglish
Article number043709
JournalJournal of the Physical Society of Japan
Volume76
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • CuFeO
  • Multiferroic
  • Neutron diffraction
  • Spin frustration
  • Triangular lattice antiferromagnet

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