Magnetostructural Coupling at the Néel Point in YNiO<sub>3</sub> Single Crystals
The recent discovery of superconductivity in infinite layer thin films and bulk Ruddlesden–Popper nickelates has stimulated the investigation of other predicted properties of these materials. Among them, the existence of magnetism-driven ferroelectricity in the parent compounds RNiO3 (R = 4f lanthanide and Y) at the onset of the Néel order, TN, has remained particularly elusive. Using diffraction techniques, we reveal here the existence of magnetostriction at TN in bulk YNiO3 single crystals. Interestingly, the associated lattice anomalies are much more pronounced along the b crystal axis, which coincides with the electric polarization direction expected from symmetry arguments. This axis undergoes an abrupt contraction below TN that reaches Δb/b ∼ −0.01%, a value comparable to those found in some magnetoresistive manganites and much larger than those reported for magnetism-driven multiferroics. This observation suggests a strong spin–lattice coupling in these materials, consistent with theoretical predictions. Using the symmetry-adapted distortion mode formalism, we identify the main ionic displacements contributing to the lattice anomalies and discuss the most likely polar displacements below TN. Furthermore, our data support symmetric superexchange as the most likely mechanism responsible for the magnetoelastic coupling. These results, that may be common to the full RNiO3 family, provide new experimental evidence supporting the predicted existence of magnetism-driven ferroelectricity in RNiO3 perovskites.
Authors
- Marta D. Rossell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8610-8853)
- Nicola Casati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4206-9239)
- Piero Macchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6292-9825)
- Anthony Linden (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9343-9180)
- Dariusz Jakub Gawryluk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4460-7106)
- Y. Maximilian Klein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7109-8090)
- M. Medarde (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1588-2870)
- Mirosław Kozłowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4144-6298)
- P. Dłużewski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4153-6309)
- Denis Sheptyakov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3001-6586)
- Rebecca Scatena (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3500-1455)
- Dmitry Chernyshov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7738-9358)
- Romain Sibille (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6360-7262)
- Tian Shang
Institutions
- University of Bern (CH)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (FR)
- Paul Scherrer Institute (CH)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Institute of Physics (PL)
- Łukasiewicz Research Network - Tele and Radio Research Institute (PL)
- Łukasiewicz Research Network (PL)
- Swiss Light Source
- East China Normal University (CN)
- Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (CH)
- Politecnico di Milano (IT)
- Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Chemistry of Materials
- Published
- 2024-08-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.4c01130
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.12
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- National Center of Competence in Research Materials’ Revolution: Computational Design and Discovery of Novel Materials