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Bond- versus site-centred ordering and possible ferroelectricity in manganites

Nature Materials volume 3, pages 853–856 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Transition metal oxides with a perovskite-type structure constitute a large group of compounds with interesting properties. Among them are materials such as the prototypical ferroelectric system BaTiO3, colossal magnetoresistance manganites and the high-Tc superconductors. Hundreds of these compounds are magnetic1, and hundreds of others are ferroelectric2, but these properties very seldom coexist. Compounds with an interdependence of magnetism and ferroelectricity could be very useful: they would open up a plethora of new applications, such as switching of magnetic memory elements by electric fields. Here, we report on a possible way to avoid this incompatibility, and show that in charge-ordered and orbitally ordered perovskites it is possible to make use of the coupling between magnetic and charge ordering to obtain ferroelectric magnets. In particular, in manganites that are less than half doped there is a type of charge ordering that is intermediate between site-centred and bond-centred. Such a state breaks inversion symmetry and is predicted to be magnetic and ferroelectric.

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Figure 1: Three types of charge ordering.
Figure 2: Concomitant magnetic order of the three charge-ordered phases in Fig. 1.
Figure 4: Different phases and charge disproportionation in manganites for doping concentrations x around 0.5.
Figure 3: Schematic representation of the orbital order in the three charge-ordered phases.

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Acknowledgements

We thank G. A. Sawatzky and J. Zaanen for discussions. This work was supported by the Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM), the Nederlandse organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft via SFB 608.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Solid State Physics, Material Science Center, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, Groningen, 9747, AG, The Netherlands

    Dmitry V. Efremov & Daniel I. Khomskii

  2. Instituut-Lorentz for Theoretical Physics, Leiden University, PO Box 9506, Leiden, 2300, RA, The Netherlands

    Jeroen van den Brink

  3. II Physicalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Zuelpicher Strasse 77, Köln, 50937, Germany

    Daniel I. Khomskii

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  1. Dmitry V. Efremov
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Correspondence to Jeroen van den Brink.

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Efremov, D., van den Brink, J. & Khomskii, D. Bond- versus site-centred ordering and possible ferroelectricity in manganites. Nature Mater 3, 853–856 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1236

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