Giant Magnetoelectric Effect in a Multiferroic Material with a High Ferroelectric Transition Temperature

TL;DR

This paper reports a giant magnetoelectric effect in HoMnO3, a multiferroic material with high ferroelectric transition temperature, driven by off-center displacement of magnetic ions, opening new design possibilities.

Contribution

It demonstrates a giant magnetoelectric effect in HoMnO3 with high ferroelectric transition temperature caused by ion displacement, a novel mechanism for multiferroic design.

Findings

Large polarization (~56 mC/m2) observed

Ferroelectric transition temperature exceeds magnetic ordering temperature

Magnetoelectric effect attributed to ion displacement

Abstract

We present a unique example of giant magnetoelectric effect in a conventional multiferroic HoMnO3, where polarization is very large (~56 mC/m2) and the ferroelectric transition temperature is higher than the magnetic ordering temperature by an order. We attribute the uniqueness of the giant magnetoelectric effect to the ferroelectricity induced entirely by the off-center displacement of rare earth ions with large magnetic moments. This finding suggests a new avenue to design multiferroics with large polarization and higher ferroelectric transition temperature as well as large magnetoelectric effects.