Regensburg 2016 – scientific programme
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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus
MA 27: Focus Session: Skyrmions meet Multiferroicity
MA 27.6: Talk
Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 12:00–12:20, H25
Skyrmions carrying electric polarization in multiferroic GaV4S8 — •Eugen Ruff1, Sebastian Widmann1, Peter Lunkenheimer1, Vladimir Tsurkan1,2, Sandor Bordács3, Istvan Kézsmárki1,3, and Alois Loidl1 — 1Experimental Physics V, Center for Electronic Correlations and Magnetism, University of Augsburg, Augsburg 86135, Germany. — 2Institute of Applied Physics, Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Chisinau 2028, Republic of Moldova. — 3Department of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and MTA-BME Lendület Magneto-Optical Spectroscopy Research Group, Budapest 1111, Hungary.
As predicted by Bogdanov et al.1, recently a skyrmion lattice (SkL) was found in the magnetic semiconductor GaV4S8. Skyrmions, topologically protected spin textures, have a big potential for future applications in data storage. A crucial question is whether the SkL causes a ferroelectric polarization, which can be controlled by an electric field. In this contribution we study the magnetic and polar properties in the lacunar spinel GaV4S8. The system shows a structural transition at 44 K, associated with orbital order, and is known to have a complex magnetic phase diagram below 13 K. We show that already below 44 K the system reveals a sizable polarization3 of 1 µC/cm2. Furthermore also the magnetically ordered phases show spin driven excess polarizations, so GaV4S8 is multiferroic below 13 K.
1A. N. Bogdanov and A. Hubert, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 138, 255 (1994). 2I. Kézsmárki et al., Nat. Mater. 14, 1116 (2015). 3E. Ruff et al., Sci. Adv. 1, e1500916 (2015).