Magnetoelectric behavior from cluster multipoles in square cupolas: Study of Sr(TiO)Cu$_4$(PO$_4$)$_4$ in comparison with Ba and Pb isostructurals

TL;DR

This study combines experiments and theory to understand magnetoelectric effects in Sr(TiO)Cu$_4$(PO$_4$)$_4$, revealing how magnetic multipoles in square cupolas contribute to these properties and comparing it with related compounds.

Contribution

It demonstrates that an effective $S=1/2$ spin model explains experimental results and explores the variety of magnetic multipoles in square cupolas, advancing understanding of magnetoelectric phenomena.

Findings

Effective spin model explains experimental magnetization and dielectric data.

Square cupolas can host monopole, toroidal, and quadrupole magnetic multipoles.

Magnetic multipoles depend on structural parameters modulated by deformations.

Abstract

We report our combined experimental and theoretical study of magnetoelectric properties of an antiferromagnet Sr(TiO)Cu$_4$(PO$_4$)$_4$, in comparison with the isostructurals Ba(TiO)Cu$_4$(PO$_4$)$_4$ and Pb(TiO)Cu$_4$(PO$_4$)$_4$. The family of compounds commonly possesses a low-symmetric magnetic unit called the square cupola, which is a source of magnetoelectric responses associated with the magnetic multipoles activated under simultaneous breaking of spatial inversion and time reversal symmetries. Measuring the full magnetization curves and the magnetic-field profiles of dielectric constant for Sr(TiO)Cu$_4$(PO$_4$)$_4$ and comparing them with the theoretical analyses by the cluster mean-field theory, we find that the effective $S=1/2$ spin model, which was used for the previous studies for Ba(TiO)Cu$_4$(PO$_4$)$_4$ and Pb(TiO)Cu$_4$(PO$_4$)$_4$, well explains the experimental results by tuning the model parameters. Furthermore, elaborating the phase diagram of the model, we find that the square cupolas could host a variety of magnetic multipoles, i.e., monopole, toroidal moment, and quadrupole tensor, depending on the parameters that could be modulated by deformations of the magnetic square cupolas. Our results not only provide a microscopic understanding of the series of the square cupola compounds, but also stimulate further exploration of the magnetoelectric behavior arising from cluster multipoles harboring in low-symmetric magnetic units.