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Dilemma in optical identification of single-layer multiferroics

Nature volume 619, pages E40–E43 (2023)Cite this article

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Matters Arising to this article was published on 19 July 2023

The Original Article was published on 23 February 2022

arising from: Q. Song et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04337-x (2022)

The search for two-dimensional multiferroic materials is an exciting yet challenging endeavour. Recently, Song et al. reported the exciting discovery of type-II multiferroic order in an antiferromagnetic (AFM) NiI2 single layer, and concluded that the ferroelectric (FE) polarization was induced by a helical magnetic order1. Their finding was presented from all-optical experimental evidence, based on the methods of second-harmonic generation (SHG) and linear dichroism (LD). However, the all-optical characterizations alone cannot serve as unanimous evidence of the ‘FE’ existence, particularly in conjunction with magnetic orders in a single-layer multiferroic. A main argument is that their observed SHG and LD signals may just be manifested from the magnetic-order-induced breaking of spatial-inversion or time-reversal symmetry instead of FE order, and thus cannot endorse the finding of a single-layer multiferroic.

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Fig. 1: Magnetic order and optical domains of NiI2.

Data availability

All data are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

C.-W.Q. acknowledges the support from National Research Foundation Singapore (CRP26-2021-0004). B.P. acknowledges the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52021001, 62250073). Y.J. acknowledges the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12274316).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Yucheng Jiang, Jingxuan Wei & Cheng-Wei Qiu

  2. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Heat Fluid Flow Technology and Energy Application, School of Physical Science and Technology, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, China

    Yucheng Jiang & Jinlei Zhang

  3. School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Yucheng Jiang

  4. National Engineering Research Center of Electromagnetic Radiation Control Materials, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China

    Yangliu Wu & Bo Peng

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  1. Yucheng Jiang
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Contributions

C.-W.Q. conceived this work. Y.J. and B.P. wrote the paper with input from C.-W.Q. and J.Z. Y.W. and B.P. performed the RMCD and LD experiments. All of the authors contributed to the discussion.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Bo Peng or Cheng-Wei Qiu.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Fig. 1 Reproduced SHG and LD responses of NiI2 (ref. 1), CrI3 (ref. 7) and FePS3 (ref. 8).

Temperature dependence of SHG intensity a, for one- to four-layer NiI2 and b, for CrI3 bilayer. c, LD intensity as a function of temperature for a FePS3 multilayer, showing a phase transition at 118 K. The data are collected from ref. 1,7,8.

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Jiang, Y., Wu, Y., Zhang, J. et al. Dilemma in optical identification of single-layer multiferroics. Nature 619, E40–E43 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06107-3

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