Recent progress in first-principles studies of magnetoelectric multiferroics

TL;DR

This review highlights recent advances in first-principles computational studies of magnetoelectric multiferroics, emphasizing their properties, novel effects, and potential applications in device technology.

Contribution

It summarizes how density functional theory has been used to explain and predict properties of multiferroic materials, advancing understanding and discovery.

Findings

First-principles methods successfully explain multiferroic properties.

Prediction of novel multiferroic effects and systems.

Enhanced understanding of magnetoelectric coupling mechanisms.

Abstract

Materials that combine magnetic and ferroelectric properties have generated increasing interest over the last few years, due to both their diverse properties and their potential utility in new types of magnetoelectric device applications. In this review we discuss recent progress in the study of such magnetoelectric multiferroics which has been achieved using computational first-principles methods based on density functional theory. In particular, we show how first-principles methods have been successfully used to explain various properties of multiferroic materials and to predict novel effects and new systems that exhibit multiferroic properties.