Weak exchange striction between the 4f and 3d ions in the multiferroic GdMn2 O5

Jieming Sheng, X. Tong, Feng Ye, J. A. Fernandez-Baca, H. Cao, N. Poudel, M. Gooch, B. Lorenz, C. W. Chu, Xueyun Wang, S. W. Cheong

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Abstract

We used single-crystal neutron diffraction to investigate the magnetic structures of the multiferroic GdMn2O5. The system undergoes a first-order incommensurate to commensurate magnetic transition below 33 K, accompanied by the appearance of electric polarization P. Upon cooling, P increases smoothly while the magnetic order shows an abrupt enhancement in intensity below 20 K owing to the large increase of the rare-earth Gd moment. The contrasting temperature evolution of the magnetic order and polarization indicates the polarization is mainly driven by the exchange striction between the magnetic Mn ions. The incommensurate phase in the intermediate temperature range has a cycloidal modulation along the c axis, with spin configuration projected in the ab plane similar to the commensurate phase. The lack of observable bulk polarization suggests the exchange striction is not the dominant mechanism for the polarization in the incommensurate phase.

Original languageEnglish
Article number094429
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume99
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 21 2019

Funding

We thank J. M. Perez-Mato and L. C. Chapon for stimulating discussion. Research at ORNL was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). J.M.S. acknowledges support from China Scholarship Council. Work at Rutgers University was supported by the DOE under Grant No. DE-FG02-07ER46382. The work in Houston is supported in part by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research Grant No. FA9550-15-1-0236, the T. L. L. Temple Foundation, the John J. and Rebecca Moores Endowment, and the State of Texas through the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston. We thank J. M. Perez-Mato and L. C. Chapon for stimulating discussion. Research at ORNL was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). J.M.S. acknowledges support from China Scholarship Council. Work at Rutgers University was supported by the DOE under Grant No. DE-FG02-07ER46382. The work in Houston is supported in part by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research Grant No. FA9550-15-1-0236, the T. L. L. Temple Foundation, the John J. and Rebecca Moores Endowment, and the State of Texas through the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston. ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 for the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan.

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