Reentrant ferroelectricity and the multiferroic phase diagram of Mn$_{1-x}$Fe$_{x}$WO$_{4}$

ORAL

Abstract

Recently MnWO$_{4}$ has attracted attention because of its multiferroic properties. In MnWO$_{4}$ the Mn$^{2+}$ ions can be substituted by Fe$^{2+}$ since MnWO$_{4}$ and FeWO$_{4}$ are isomorphic. This opens the possibility to tune the magnetic orders by Fe-substitution for a better understanding of the microscopic interactions resulting in the multiferroic properties. We report the discovery of reentrant ferroelectricity in the phase diagram of multiferroic Mn$_{1-x}$Fe$_{x}$WO$_{4}$ single crystals. At zero magnetic field (H) the spin-spiral ferroelectric (FE) state is completely suppressed at Fe substitutions (x) exceeding 0.04. For x<0.04 a ferroelectric phase exists in a narrow temperature (T) range at zero magnetic field. This FE phase shows a reentrant behavior at lower T above a critical magnetic field H$_{c}$(x). The reentrant FE transition is explored by polarization, dielectric constant, and magnetization measurements. The complete multiferroic x-T-H phase diagram of Mn$_{1-x}$Fe$_{x}$WO$_{4}$ is derived.

Authors

  • Rajit Chaudhury

    TCSUH and Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204-5002, USA

  • Bernd Lorenz

    TCSUH and Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204-5002, USA, TCSUH and Dept. of Physics, University of Houston, Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston and Department of Physics, TCSUH and Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA

  • Yaqi Wang

    TCSUH and Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204-5002, USA

  • Yanyi Sun

    TCSUH and Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204-5002, USA

  • Ching-Wu Chu

    University of Houston, TCSUH and Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204-5002, USA, Dept. of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5002, Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, TCSUH and Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA;