Oxyhalides—a new class of high-tc multiferroic materials
Tuesday, June 21, 2016 - 07:01
in Physics & Chemistry
Novel devices capable of rapidly and reliably switching magnetic states by acting on the electronic charge state are predicted to be of prime importance for tomorrow's data storage. Their realization will depend on the availability of materials that possess coupled ferromagnetic and ferroelectric order. Ferromagnetic order relies on the parallel alignment of magnetic moments created by the spin of the electrons. Ferroelectric order arises when ensembles of charges of opposite sign are displaced with respect to each other thus creating electric polarization. Coupled multiferroicity is observed when the alignment of the magnetic moments induces the charge separation and vice versa.