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arXiv · 0808.3955

Magnetoelectric coupling in the cubic ferrimagnet Cu2OSeO3

Jan-Willem G. Bos·Claire V. Colin·Thomas T. M. Palstra
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Abstract

We have investigated the magnetoelectric coupling in the lone pair containing piezoelectric ferrimagnet Cu2OSeO3. Significant magnetocapacitance develops in the magnetically ordered state (TC = 60 K). We find critical behavior near TC and a divergence near the metamagnetic transition at 500 Oe. High-resolution X-ray and neutron powder diffraction measurements show that Cu2OSeO3 is metrically cubic down to 10 K but that the ferrimagnetic ordering reduces the symmetry to rhombohedral R3. The metric cubic lattice dimensions exclude a magnetoelectric coupling mechanism involving spontaneous lattice strain, and this is unique among magnetoelectric and multiferroic materials.

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Jan-Willem G. Bos, Claire V. Colin, Thomas T. M. Palstra. 2008-08-28. Magnetoelectric coupling in the cubic ferrimagnet Cu2OSeO3. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.78.094416

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