Control of the ferroelectricity in metastable state for orthorhombic $R$MnO$_{3}$ crystals

TL;DR

This study explores how external magnetic fields and pressure can control the metastable ferroelectric phase in orthorhombic RMnO3 crystals near a phase boundary, revealing phase competition and metastability.

Contribution

It demonstrates the ability to manipulate phase states in RMnO3 crystals through external stimuli, highlighting the metastable nature of the ferroelectric phase near the phase boundary.

Findings

Metastable ferroelectric phase observed at y=0.15

Phase boundary between PA and FS near y=0.15-0.2

External magnetic field and pressure can switch phases

Abstract

We have investigated orthorhombic $R$MnO$_{3}$ ($R$=(Gd$_{1-y}$Tb$_{y}$)) crystals near the phase boundary between the paraelectric $A$-type-antiferromagnetic (AF) phase (PA) and the ferroelectric transverse-spiral-AF one (FS). The spiral AF structure breaks inversion symmetry and induces the ferroelectric polarization through the inverse Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction. We have found that the PA-FS phase boundary is located at around 0.15$<$$y$$<$0.2. In $y$=0.15 compound, PA and FS phases appear in cooling scan, while FS is not observed in warming scan. This result suggests that FS observed in $y$=0.15 is a metastable state arising from the competition between PA and FS. Furthermore, we demonstrate the phase control between these competing phases by the application of the external magnetic field and external quasihydrostatic pressure.