Magnetoelectric effect in non-centrosymmetric Kondo lattices

We study magnetoelectric (ME) response in Kondo lattices without the center of inversion. In such materials the conduction electrons move under the influence of an odd in momentum spin-orbit interaction (SOI). The interplay between this SOI and Kondo screening enables manipulation of the net magnetization of the system by an applied electric field. As a simple model for this phenomenon, we consider a Kondo bilayer (a pair of two-dimensional Kondo lattices) with the Rashba-type SOI, and treat it within a generalized hybridization mean field theory. We demonstrate that the ME response, strongest inside the heavy-fermion phase, has a very pronounced dependence on the magnitude of the spin-orbit coupling. These results provide a new pathway to the ME effect in strongly correlated materials.