Berlin 2015 – scientific programme
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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten
DS 21: Multiferroics I (joint session with DF)
DS 21.1: Talk
Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 09:30–09:45, EB 107
Magnetoelectric domain control in multiferroic TbMnO3 — •Sebastian Manz1, Masakazu Matsubara1,2, Masahito Mochizuki3,4, Teresa Kubacka1, Ayato Iyama5, Nadir Aliouane6, Tsuyoshi Kimura5, Steven Johnson1, Dennis Meier1, and Manfred Fiebig1 — 1ETH Zürich — 2Tohoku University — 3Aoyama Gakuin University — 4Japan Science and Technology Agency — 5Osaka University — 6Paul Scherrer Institute
Spin-spiral multiferroics exhibit a strong coupling between the electric and magnetic subsystems which is of potential interest for technological applications. Although these systems have been investigated for more than a decade, the magnetoelectric domain evolution under external fields is still largely unknown. Using optical second harmonic generation we resolve how electric and magnetic fields affect the multiferroic domains in the archetypal spin-spiral multiferroic TbMnO3. In consecutive electric switching cycles, varying multi-domain patterns emerge before a single-domain state is obtained. This observation reflects that the domain walls can easily move without being pinned by, e.g., structural defects. In striking contrast to the electric-field response, multi-domain patterns persist when the polarization direction is flopped by applied magnetic fields. Here, a uniform polarization rotation is observed within all domains, which incorporates a transformation of neutral into nominally charged domain walls. Our results are explained based on numerical Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert simulations and provide first evidence for the scalability of macroscopic magnetoelectric properties onto the level of domains.