Ferroic nature of magnetic toroidal order

Anne S. Zimmermann, Dennis Meier and Manfred Fiebig ()
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Anne S. Zimmermann: HISKP, Universität Bonn, Nussallee 14-16
Dennis Meier: ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 4
Manfred Fiebig: ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 4

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Electric dipoles and ferroelectricity violate spatial inversion symmetry, and magnetic dipoles and ferromagnetism break time-inversion symmetry. Breaking both symmetries favours magnetoelectric charge-spin coupling effects of enormous interest, such as multiferroics, skyrmions, polar superconductors, topological insulators or dynamic phenomena such as electromagnons. Extending the rationale, a novel type of ferroic order violating space- and time-inversion symmetry with a single order parameter should exist. This existence is fundamental and the inherent magnetoelectric coupling is technologically interesting. A uniform alignment of magnetic vortices, called ferrotoroidicity, was proposed to represent this state. Here we demonstrate that the magnetic vortex pattern identified in LiCoPO4 exhibits the indispensable hallmark of such a ferroic state, namely hysteretic poling of ferrotoroidic domains in the conjugate toroidal field, along with a distinction of toroidal from non-toroidal poling effects. This consolidates ferrotoroidicity as fourth form of ferroic order.

Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms5796

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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5796

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