Room-Temperature Ferrimagnet with Frustrated Antiferroelectricity: Promising Candidate Toward Multiple-State Memory

• Published in: Physical review. X Vol. 4; no. 1; p. 011035
• Main Authors: Wang, P. S., Xiang, H. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: College Park American Physical Society 01-03-2014
• Subjects: Alignment; Antiferroelectricity; Antiferromagnetism; Barium hexaferrite; Dipole interactions; Electric dipoles; Electric fields; Electric polarization; Electronic devices; Ferric ions; Ferrimagnetism; Ferrimagnets; Ferroelectric materials; First principles; Lattice sites; Memory devices; Multiferroic materials; Room temperature; Substitutes
• ISSN: 2160-3308; 2160-3308
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.4.011035

On the basis of first-principles calculations, we show that the M-type hexaferrite BaFe12O19 exhibits frustrated antiferroelectricity associated with its trigonal bipyramidal Fe3+ sites. The ferroelectric state of BaFe12O19 , reachable by applying an external electric field to the antiferroelectric state, can be made stable at room temperature by appropriate element substitution or strain engineering. Thus, M-type hexaferrite, as a new type of multiferoic with coexistence of antiferroelectricity and ferrimagnetism, provides a basis for studying the phenomenon of frustrated antiferroelectricity and realizing multiple-state memory devices.