Ferroelectricity in a one-dimensional organic quantum magnet

• Published in: Nature physics Vol. 6; no. 3; pp. 169 - 172
• Main Authors: Kagawa, Fumitaka, Horiuchi, Sachio, Tokunaga, Masashi, Fujioka, Jun, Tokura, Yoshinori
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.03.2010; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Atomic; Classical and Continuum Physics; Complex Systems; Condensed Matter Physics; Ferroelectrics; letter; Magnetic fields; Mathematical and Computational Physics; Molecular; Optical and Plasma Physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Polarization; Quantum physics; Theoretical
• ISSN: 1745-2473; 1745-2481
• DOI: 10.1038/nphys1503

In magnetically controllable ferroelectrics, electric polarization is induced by charge redistribution or lattice distortions that occur to minimize the energy associated with both the magnetic order and interaction of spins with an applied magnetic field. Conventional approaches to designing materials that exploit such spin-mediated behaviour have focused mainly on developing the cycloidal spin order, and thereby producing ferroelectric behaviour through the so-called antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. However, engineering such spin structures is challenging. Here we suggest a different approach. Direct measurements of magnetic-field-dependent variations in the polarization of the one-dimensional organic quantum magnet, tetrathiafulvalene-p-bromanil, suggest a spin-Peierls instability has an important role in its response. Our results imply that one-dimensional quantum magnets, such as organic charge-transfer complexes, could be promising candidates in the development of magnetically controllable ferroelectric materials.