Yamasaki Y, Sagayama H, Goto T, Matsuura M, Hirota K, Arima T, Tokura Y
Department of Applied Physics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Apr 6;98(14):147204. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.147204. Epub 2007 Apr 5.
Magnetic ferroelectrics or multiferroics, which are currently extensively explored, may provide a good arena to realize a novel magnetoelectric function. Here we demonstrate the genuine electric control of the spiral magnetic structure in one such magnetic ferroelectric, TbMnO3. A spin-polarized neutron scattering experiment clearly shows that the spin helicity, clockwise or counterclockwise, is controlled by the direction of spontaneous polarization and hence by the polarity of the small electric field applied on cooling.
磁性铁电体或多铁性材料目前正受到广泛研究，它们可能为实现一种新型磁电功能提供一个良好的平台。在此，我们展示了在一种此类磁性铁电体TbMnO₃中对螺旋磁结构的真正电控制。一项自旋极化中子散射实验清楚地表明，自旋螺旋性（顺时针或逆时针）由自发极化方向控制，进而由冷却时施加的小电场的极性控制。
