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Updated: May 2, 2026

Measuring Magnetically-Tuned Ferroelectric Polarization in Liquid Crystals
Published on: August 15, 2018
Prediction of a novel magnetoelectric switching mechanism in multiferroics
Yurong Yang1, Jorge Iñiguez2, Ai-Jie Mao3
1Physics Department and Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA and Physics Department, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China.
Abstract:
We report a first-principles study of the recently predicted Pmc21 phase of the multiferroic BiFeO3 material, revealing a novel magnetoelectric effect that makes it possible to control magnetism with an electric field. The effect can be viewed as a two-step process: Switching the polarization first results in the change of the sense of the rotation of the oxygen octahedra, which in turn induces the switching of the secondary magnetic order parameter. The first step is governed by an original trilinear-coupling energy between polarization, octahedral tilting, and an antiferroelectric distortion. The second step is controlled by another trilinear coupling, this one involving the predominant and secondary magnetic orders as well as the oxygen octahedral tilting. In contrast with other trilinear-coupling effects in the literature, the present ones occur in a simple ABO3 perovskite and involve a large polarization.
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