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Electric-Field-Induced X-Ray Nonreciprocal Dichroism in Hematite

Takeshi Hayashida1,2,*,†, Koei Matsumoto2,†, Keito Arakawa3, Yves Joly4, Sergio Di Matteo5, Kenji Tamasaku6, Yoshikazu Tanaka6, and Tsuyoshi Kimura2

  • *Contact author: takeshi.hayashida@ru.nl
  • †These authors contributed equally to this work.
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Phys. Rev. X 16, 041015 – Published 14 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/p5ry-x2wr

Abstract

Hematite (α−Fe2O3) is a prototypical room-temperature antiferromagnet whose time-reversal-odd magnetic structure has recently attracted renewed attention. While such magnetic symmetry can be characterized in terms of higher-order multipoles beyond the magnetic dipole, their manifestation in measurable physical phenomena has remained largely elusive. In this work, we investigate x-ray absorption near the Fe K-edge of hematite under an applied electric field, which explicitly breaks space-inversion symmetry. We observe an electric-field-induced x-ray nonreciprocal linear dichroism that reflects the time-reversal-odd nature of the magnetic order. A symmetry-resolved multipole analysis attributes this response to the electric-field-induced magnetic quadrupole and the magnetic toroidal octupole induced by the applied electric field. Furthermore, numerical simulations based on ab initio density functional theory reproduce the observed spectra, including their dependence on the antiferromagnetic domain and x-ray polarization. These results indicate that electric-field-modulated x-ray absorption measurements, combined with simulations, provide a framework for identifying the higher-order multipoles contributing to measurable physical responses in time-reversal-odd antiferromagnets, thereby facilitating the investigation of hidden symmetry properties in magnetic materials.

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Popular Summary

Detecting higher-order multipoles in common antiferromagnets like hematite (Fe2O3) remains an experimental hurdle because these subtle magnetic configurations are typically invisible to standard spectroscopic probes. We addressed this challenge by using x-ray absorption measurements under an applied electric field to render these hidden multipolar states observable. We demonstrated that the applied field induces femtometer-scale ionic displacements between iron and oxygen sites, breaking inversion symmetry and generating nonreciprocal x-ray absorption signatures. Combined with theoretical calculations, these measurements reveal how otherwise compensated multipolar components can contribute to the material’s response to an electric field. Our work establishes a spectroscopic approach for investigating hidden multipoles through their response to external fields in a broader class of magnetic materials.

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Phys. Rev. X 16, 041015– Published 14 October, 2026
  • Received 24 March 2026
  • Revised 24 July 2026
  • Accepted 27 August 2026
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