Selection rules and dynamic magnetoelectric effect of the spin waves in multiferroic BiFeO$_3$

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic field effects on spin-wave excitations in multiferroic BiFeO$_3$, revealing how magnetic fields influence optical selection rules, cycloid orientations, and magnetoelectric coupling, supported by experimental and theoretical analysis.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the magnetic field dependence of spin-wave excitations and selection rules in BiFeO$_3$, combining THz spectroscopy, neutron scattering, and spin-wave theory to elucidate magnetoelectric effects.

Findings

Magnetic field rotates cycloid q-vectors perpendicular to the field.

Selection rules depend on q-vector orientation relative to electromagnetic fields.

Field history affects spin-wave mode strength and frequency.

Abstract

We report the magnetic field dependence of the THz absorption and non-reciprocal directional dichroism spectra of BiFeO$_3$ measured on the three principal crystal cuts for fields applied along the three principal directions of each cut. From the systematic study of the light polarization dependence we deduced the optical selection rules of the spin-wave excitations. Our THz data, combined with small-angle neutron scattering results showed that i) an in-plane magnetic field rotates the $\mathbf{q}$ vectors of the cycloids perpendicular to the magnetic field, and ii) the selection rules are mostly determined by the orientation of the $\mathbf{q}$ vector with respect to the electromagnetic fields. We observed a magnetic field history dependent change in the strength and the frequency of the spin-wave modes, which we attributed to the change of the orientation and the length of the cycloidal $\mathbf{q}$ vector, respectively. Finally, we compared our experimental data with the results of linear spin-wave theory that reproduces the magnetic field dependence of the spin-wave frequencies and most of the selection rules, from which we identified the spin-polarization coupling terms relevant for the optical magnetoelectric effect.