Magnetoelectric effect in antiferromagnetic LiCoPO4 in pulsed magnetic fields

The magnetoelectric effect in single-crystal LiCoPO4 (TN = 21.8 K) is studied in strong pulsed magnetic fields which destroy the antiferromagnetic structure of the crystal spin ordering. The electric polarization along the crystallographic a axis induced by a magnetic field H||b is measured. New features of the electric polarization in a magnetic field are found, including a spike in the polarization near the field for the first magnetic transition at H 1 = 123 kOe, a recovery of the electric polarization at the second magnetic transition H2 = 210 kOe, and a gradual reduction to zero on approaching the third transition at H 3 = 263 kOe. Various possible magnetic structures in the high field phases are examined which are consistent with their magnetization and electric polarization. The observed linear dependence of the polarization on field strength in the initial antiferromagnetic phase and the vanishing of the polarization in the first high-field phase are in good agreement with previous studies of the magnetoelectric effect in LiCoPO4 [Wiegelmann et al., Ferroelectrics 161, 147 (1994); H. Wiegelman, Ph.D. thesis (University of Konstanz, Konstanz, 1995)].