Topologically protected magnetoelectric switching in a multiferroic

Louis Ponet, S. Artyukhin (), Th. Kain, J. Wettstein, Anna Pimenov, A. Shuvaev, X. Wang, S.-W. Cheong, Maxim Mostovoy and Andrei Pimenov
Additional contact information
Louis Ponet: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
S. Artyukhin: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
Th. Kain: Vienna University of Technology
J. Wettstein: Vienna University of Technology
Anna Pimenov: Vienna University of Technology
A. Shuvaev: Vienna University of Technology
X. Wang: Beijing Institute of Technology
S.-W. Cheong: Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials and Department of Physics and Astronomy
Maxim Mostovoy: University of Groningen
Andrei Pimenov: Vienna University of Technology

Nature, 2022, vol. 607, issue 7917, 81-85

Abstract: Abstract Electric control of magnetism and magnetic control of ferroelectricity can improve the energy efficiency of magnetic memory and data-processing devices1. However, the necessary magnetoelectric switching is hard to achieve, and requires more than just a coupling between the spin and the charge degrees of freedom2–5. Here we show that an application and subsequent removal of a magnetic field reverses the electric polarization of the multiferroic GdMn2O5, thus requiring two cycles to bring the system back to the original configuration. During this unusual hysteresis loop, four states with different magnetic configurations are visited by the system, with one half of all spins undergoing unidirectional full-circle rotation in increments of about 90 degrees. Therefore, GdMn2O5 acts as a magnetic crankshaft that converts the back-and-forth variations of the magnetic field into a circular spin motion. This peculiar four-state magnetoelectric switching emerges as a topologically protected boundary between different two-state switching regimes. Our findings establish a paradigm of topologically protected switching phenomena in ferroic materials.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04851-6

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