Browsing by Author "Rovillian, P"

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    Magnetically driven electric polarization in frustrated magnetic oxide multiferroics
    (Australian Institute of Physics, 2014-02-04) Narayanan, N; Reynolds, NM; Li, F; Mulders, AM; Rovillian, P; Ulrich, C; Bartkowiak, M; Hester, JR; McIntyre, GJ; Hutchinson, WD
    In multiferroics more than one ferroic order can coexist and in the present case we are interested in systems which exhibit simultaneous magnetic ordering and electric polarization (EP). Of particular interest are frustrated magnetic materials that exhibit an electric polarization that is strongly coupled to the magnetism [1]. Examples of such multiferroics are RMnO3 (R= Tb, Dy), Ni3V2O8, and RbFe(MoO4)2 [2-4]. This coupling can be utilized in applications such as magnetoelectric random access memory. Although technically relevant, the coupling mechanism between these two orders is complicated [1]. Whereas the magnetic ordering results from exchange interaction of unpaired spins, origins of EP coupled to the magnetic ordering depends on the interplay between lattice, orbital, spin and charge degrees of freedom. Several mechanisms such as the inverse Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, magnetostriction and coupling of the chirality to the crystal structure or a combination of them are currently discussed depending on the compound [2-5]. Additionally EP has ionic and electronic contributions. In the present work we investigate the coupling of magnetism to EP involving all three above mechanisms, in orthorhombic DyMnO3 (DMO), Cu3Nb2O8 and Ba3NiNb2O9 with neutron powder diffraction (NPD), magnetization and heat capacity measurements focusing on the magnetic and multiferroic phase transitions. In order to investigate the role of the lattice distortion or equivalently the role of oxygen, isotope substitution of 16O with 18O was performed on DMO. All samples are prepared as single phases via the solid state route and NPD experiments are carried out at Wombat and at Echidna at OPAL.
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    Magnetoelectric coupling in isotopically substituted TbMn16/18O3 and RMn2O5 (R=Tb, Ho and Y) explored by Raman light spectroscopy
    (Australian Institute of Physics, 2014-02-04) Graham, PJ; Rovillian, P; Mulders, AM; Yethiraj, M; Argyriou, D; Pomjakushina, E; Condor, K; Kenzelmann, M; Ulrich, C
    Multiferroic materials demonstrate excellent potential for next-generation multifunctional devices, as they exhibit coexisting ferroelectric and magnetic orders. In magnetoelectric multiferroics, the existing coupling between both properties offers a unique possibility to manipulate ferroelectricity via magnetic order and vice versa opening unexpected new potential for high-density information storage and sensor applications. At present, the underlying physics of the magnetoelectric coupling is not fully understood, and competing theories propose conflicting experimental outcomes. By studying the lattice and magnetic excitations via Raman light scattering, we have obtained insight into the various coupling mechanism in multiferroic materials like TbMnO3 and RMn2O5 (R = Tb, Ho, and Y). Raman light scattering experiments were performed on TbMn16/18O3 oxygen-isotopesubstituted single crystals. Pronounced anomalies in sign and strength of the phonon shifts at the magnetic phase transition at 43 K and the ferroelectric phase transition at 28 K indicate an interaction between the lattice and the magnetic and electric ordering, providing information about the nature of the competing magnetic interactions present in this compound. Our Raman light scattering experiments on RMn2O5 (R = Tb, Ho, and Y) revealed opposite spin-phonon interactions for R = magnetic Tb and Ho, in contrast to non-magnetic Y. This offers a unique insight in the various competing spin exchange interactions, which lead to the highly frustrated spin structure and finally the multiferroic properties of RMn2O5. Using single crystal neutron diffraction at high magnetic fields (up to 11 T) we were able to determine a theoretically proposed but hitherto unobserved crystallographic phase transition, which naturally explains the origin of the ferroelectric polarization.