Large linear magnetoelectric effect and field-induced ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity in DyCrO4

All the magnetoelectric properties of scheelite-type DyCrO 4 are characterized by temperature- and field-dependent magnetization, specific heat, permittivity, electric polarization, and neutron diffraction measurements. Upon application of a magnetic field within ±3 T, the nonpolar collinear antiferromagnetic structure leads to a large linear magnetoelectric effect with a considerable coupling coefficient. An applied electric field can induce the converse linear magnetoelectric effect, realizing magnetic field control of ferroelectricity and electric field control of magnetism. Furthermore, a higher magnetic field (>3 T) can cause a metamagnetic transition from the initially collinear antiferromagnetic structure to a canted structure, generating a large ferromagnetic magnetization up to 7.0 μ B f.u. −1 . Moreover, the new spin structure can break the space inversion symmetry, yielding ferroelectric polarization, which leads to coupling of ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity with a large ferromagnetic component. Magnetoelectric effect: Rare structure offers options for device control Researchers have isolated a material with remarkable electrical and magnetic properties that could simplify data manipulation in devices such as high-density memory platforms. Youwen Long from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and colleagues report that synthesizing dysprosium chromate (DyCrO 4 ) under high pressure conditions produces a crystal with internal dipoles that respond to both magnetic and electric fields. Experiments demonstrated that magnetic field ordering of dipoles caused the material to emit a new electric output. Conversely, electric field alignment generated a large magnetic response over a wide temperature range. This magnetic output could be boosted even further by tweaking the initial dipole alignment with strong magnets. The team attributed the unusual magnetic and electric field control mechanisms to electronic interactions between dysprosium and chromium ions. The scheelite-type DyCrO 4 shows a large linear magnetoelectric effect (magnetic field induced electric polarization) as well as the converse effect (electric field induced magnetization) within ± 3 T. A higher magnetic field induces a metamagnetic transition from the initially collinear antiferromagnetic structure to a canted one, generating a giant ferromagnetic component by about 7 μB f.u. −1 . The new spin structure can break the spatial inversion symmetry and y