Hysteresis effects in the phase diagram of multiferroic GdMnO$_3$

TL;DR

This study investigates the complex magnetic and ferroelectric phase transitions in GdMnO$_3$, revealing hysteresis and phase coexistence through high-resolution thermal expansion and magnetostriction measurements.

Contribution

It provides detailed experimental evidence of hysteresis and phase coexistence in GdMnO$_3$, highlighting the effects of magnetic fields on its phase diagram.

Findings

First-order phase transitions with strong hysteresis observed.

Magnetic field influences phase boundaries and induces phase coexistence.

Anisotropic thermal expansion features associated with magnetic and ferroelectric transitions.

Abstract

We present high-resolution thermal expansion $\alpha(T)$ and magnetostriction $\Delta L(H)/L$ measurements of GdMnO$_3$, which develops an incommensurate antiferromagnetic order (ICAFM) below $T_{\rm N}\simeq$ 42 K and transforms into a canted A-type antiferromagnet (cAFM) below $T_{\rm c}\simeq 20 $K. In addition, a ferroelectric polarization ${\bf P}||a$ is observed below $T_{\rm FE} $ for finite magnetic fields applied along the $b$ direction. In zero magnetic field we find a strongly anisotropic thermal expansion with certain, rather broad anomalous features. In finite magnetic fields, however, very strong anomalies arise at $T_{\rm c}$ for fields applied along each of the orthorhombic axes and at $T_{\rm FE}$ for fields along the b axis. Both phase transitions are of first-order type and strongly hysteretic. We observe a down-bending of the ICAFM-to-cAFM phase boundary $T_{\rm c}(H)$ for low magnetic fields and our data give evidence for coexisting phases in the low-field low-temperature range.