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Title: First-principles approach to the dynamic magnetoelectric couplings for the non-reciprocal directional dichroism in BiFeO3

Journal Article · · New Journal of Physics
 [1];  [2]
  1. Budapest Univ. of Technology and Economics, Budapest (Hungary)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Due to the complicated magnetic and crystallographic structures of BiFeO3, its magnetoelectric (ME) couplings and microscopic model Hamiltonian remain poorly understood. By employing a firstprinciples approach, we uncover all possibleMEcouplings associated with the spin-current (SC) and exchange-striction (ES) polarizations, and construct an appropriate Hamiltonian for the long-range spin-cycloid in BiFeO3. First-principles calculations are used to understand the microscopic origins of theMEcouplings.Wefind that inversion symmetries broken by ferroelectric and antiferroelectric distortions induce the SC and the ES polarizations, which cooperatively produce the dynamicME effects in BiFeO3. A model motivated by first principles reproduces the absorption difference of counter-propagating light beams called non-reciprocal directional dichroism. The current paper focuses on the spin-driven (SD) polarizations produced by a dynamic electric field, i.e. the dynamic MEcouplings. Due to the inertial properties of Fe, the dynamic SD polarizations differ significantly from the static SD polarizations. Our systematic approach can be generally applied to any multiferroic material, laying the foundation for revealing hiddenMEcouplings on the atomic scale and for exploiting opticalMEeffects in the next generation of technological devices such as optical diodes.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1261366
Journal Information:
New Journal of Physics, Vol. 18; ISSN 1367-2630
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Cited By (3)

Vibrational spectra of multiferroics with Y- and Z-type hexaferrite structures journal August 2018
Lattice and spin dynamics in multiferroic BiFeO3 and RMnO3 journal May 2019
Electromagnon in the Y-type hexaferrite BaSrCoZnFe 11 AlO 22 journal April 2018

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