Noncentrosymmetric Commensurate Magnetic Ordering of Multiferroic ErMn2O5

TL;DR

This study reveals the non-centrosymmetric magnetic structure of ErMn2O5, highlighting its similarities to HoMn2O5, and details the magnetic ordering, domain structure, and structural changes associated with ferroelectric transition.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of ErMn2O5's magnetic structure using multiple techniques, clarifying the magnetic configurations and domain populations in this multiferroic material.

Findings

Erbium magnetic moments align parallel to the c-axis.

Presence of two unequally populated chirality domains.

Structural changes in Mn-O-Mn bond angles below ferroelectric transition.

Abstract

The non-centrosymmetric magnetic structure of ErMn$_2$O$_5$ has been shown to be very similar to that of HoMn$_2$O$_5$ (Vecchini {\it et al.}, 2008 Phys. Rev. B {\bf 77} 134434). The magnetic modulation at 25 K has propagation vector $\vec k$=(1/2,0,1/4) and the symmetry imposes very few constraints on the magnetic configurations allowed. Only by combining the results of bulk magnetisation measurements, powder and single crystal neutron diffraction and spherical neutron polarization analysis was it possible to distinguish clearly between different models. The susceptibility measurements show that the erbium magnetic moments are aligned parallel to the c-axis indicating strong single-ion anisotropy. Spherical neutron polarimetry demonstrates the presence of two unequally populated chirality domains in ErMn$_2$O$_5$ single crystals. X-ray diffraction measurements on an ErMn$_2$O$_5$ powder using synchrotron radiation show that the buckling angles of the Mn-O-Mn bond change below the transition to the ferroelectric phase.