This weeks image come from a recent Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter paper by Viacheslav  Chizhikov and Vladimir Dmitrienko. 

They theoretically investigated the cause of ferroelectric behaviour in the chiral magnet Cu₂OSeO_3.

The average electric polarization shows anisotropy with respect to crystallographic orientation. Figure taken from J. Phys. Cond. Mat. 29 155601 © IOP Publishing 2017.

They found that Ferroelectric properties of cubic chiral magnet Cu₂OSeO₃ can emerge due to the spin noncollinearity induced by antiferromagnetic cantings. Type II multiferroics like this may pave the way for the next generation of advanced electronics, as their properties can be altered using applied fields.

For more work on multiferroics, check out:

• Dynamical magnetoelectric phenomena of multiferroic skyrmions – Masahito Mochizuki and Shinichiro Seki
• Multiferroics of spin origin – Yoshinori Tokura, Shinichiro Seki and Naoto Nagaosa
• Non-collinear magnetism in multiferroic perovskites – Eric Bousquet and Andrés Cano

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

Categories: Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, JPhys+

Tags: chiral magnets, Ferroelectric, Image of the week, Magnetism, Multiferroics