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Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 087206 (2005) [4 pages]

Magnetic Inversion Symmetry Breaking and Ferroelectricity in TbMnO3

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M. Kenzelmann1,2,3, A. B. Harris4, S. Jonas3, C. Broholm3,5, J. Schefer2, S. B. Kim6, C. L. Zhang6, S.-W. Cheong6, O. P. Vajk5, and J. W. Lynn5
1Laboratory for Solid State Physics, ETH Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
2Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, ETH Zürich and Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland
3Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
4Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
5NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
6Department of Physics & Astronomy, Rutgers University, 136 Frelinghuysen Rd., Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA

Received 12 April 2005; published 19 August 2005

TbMnO3 is an orthorhombic insulator where incommensurate spin order for temperature TN<41  K is accompanied by ferroelectric order for T<28  K. To understand this, we establish the magnetic structure above and below the ferroelectric transition using neutron diffraction. In the paraelectric phase, the spin structure is incommensurate and longitudinally modulated. In the ferroelectric phase, however, there is a transverse incommensurate spiral. We show that the spiral breaks spatial inversion symmetry and can account for magnetoelectricity in TbMnO3.

© 2005 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.087206
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.087206
PACS:
77.80.Bh, 75.10.Jm, 75.25.+z, 75.40.Gb
 
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