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arXiv · 1905.12955

Prediction of a Giant Magnetoelectric Cross-Caloric Effect Around a Tetracritical Point in Multiferroic SrMnO$_3$

Alexander Edström·Claude Ederer
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Abstract

We study the magnetoelectric and electrocaloric response of strain-engineered, multiferroic SrMnO$_3$, using a phenomenological Landau theory with all parameters obtained from \emph{first-principles}-based calculations. This allows to make realistic and materials-specific predictions about the magnitude of the corresponding effects. We find that in the vicinity of a tetracritical point, where magnetic and ferroelectric phase boundaries intersect, an electric field has a huge effect on the antiferromagnetic order, corresponding to a magnetoelectric response several orders of magnitude larger than in conventional linear magnetoelectrics. Furthermore, the strong magnetoelectric coupling leads to a magnetic, cross-caloric contribution to the electrocaloric effect, which increases the overall caloric response by about 60\%. This opens up new potential applications of antiferromagnetic multiferroics in the context of environmentally friendly solid state cooling technologies.

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Alexander Edström, Claude Ederer. 2019-05-30. Prediction of a Giant Magnetoelectric Cross-Caloric Effect Around a Tetracritical Point in Multiferroic SrMnO$_3$. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.124.167201

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