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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Hidden orders and (anti-)magnetoelectric effects in Cr2O3 and α−Fe2O3

Xanthe H. Verbeek*, Andrea Urru, and Nicola A. Spaldin

  • Materials Department, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland

  • *xverbeek@ethz.ch
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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L042018 – Published 3 November, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L042018

Abstract

We present ab initio calculations of hidden magnetoelectric multipolar order in Cr2O3 and its iron-based analog, α−Fe2O3. First, we discuss the connection between the order of such hidden multipoles and the linear magnetoelectric effect. Next we show the presence of hidden antiferroically ordered magnetoelectric multipoles in both the prototypical magnetoelectric material Cr2O3 and centrosymmetric α−Fe2O3, which has the same crystal structure as Cr2O3 but a different magnetic dipolar ordering. In turn, we predict antimagnetoelectric effects, in which local magnetic dipole moments are induced in opposite directions under the application of an uniform external electric field to create an additional antiferromagnetic ordering. We confirm the predicted induced moments using first-principles calculations. Our results demonstrate the existence of hidden magnetoelectric multipoles leading to local linear magnetoelectric responses even in centrosymmetric magnetic materials, where a net bulk linear magnetoelectric effect is forbidden by symmetry, and broaden the definition of magnetoelectric materials by including those showing such local magnetoelectric responses.

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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L042018– Published 3 November, 2023
  • Received 24 March 2023
  • Revised 4 July 2023
  • Accepted 6 October 2023
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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