γ-BaFe2O4: a fresh playground for room temperature multiferroicity

Fabio Orlandi (), Davide Delmonte, Gianluca Calestani, Enrico Cavalli, Edmondo Gilioli, Vladimir V. Shvartsman, Patrizio Graziosi, Stefano Rampino, Giulia Spaggiari, Chao Liu, Wei Ren, Silvia Picozzi, Massimo Solzi, Michele Casappa and Francesco Mezzadri ()
Additional contact information
Fabio Orlandi: ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Davide Delmonte: IMEM-CNR
Gianluca Calestani: Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma
Enrico Cavalli: Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma
Edmondo Gilioli: IMEM-CNR
Vladimir V. Shvartsman: University of Duisburg-Essen
Patrizio Graziosi: CNR-ISMN
Stefano Rampino: IMEM-CNR
Giulia Spaggiari: IMEM-CNR
Chao Liu: Shanghai University
Wei Ren: Shanghai University
Silvia Picozzi: Unità di Ricerca presso Terzi c/o Università “G. D’Annunzio”
Massimo Solzi: Physical and Computer Sciences, University of Parma
Michele Casappa: IMEM-CNR
Francesco Mezzadri: IMEM-CNR

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Multiferroics, showing the coexistence of two or more ferroic orderings at room temperature, could harness a revolution in multifunctional devices. However, most of the multiferroic compounds known to date are not magnetically and electrically ordered at ambient conditions, so the discovery of new materials is pivotal to allow the development of the field. In this work, we show that BaFe2O4 is a previously unrecognized room temperature multiferroic. X-ray and neutron diffraction allowed to reveal the polar crystal structure of the compound as well as its antiferromagnetic behavior, confirmed by bulk magnetometry characterizations. Piezo force microscopy and electrical measurements show the polarization to be switchable by the application of an external field, while symmetry analysis and calculations based on density functional theory reveal the improper nature of the ferroelectric component. Considering the present findings, we propose BaFe2O4 as a Bi- and Pb-free model for the search of new advanced multiferroic materials.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35669-5

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