Modulated spin structure responsible for the magnetic-field-induced polarization switching in multiferroic TbMn2O5

Abstract

Orthorhombic TbMn2O5 (o-TMO) is a well-known multiferroic manganite with the remarkable property of polarization switching at 3 K under a bias magnetic (H) field along the a axis of Pb2(1)m. To theoretically account for this outstanding observation, we have proposed a modulated spin structure under the saturated bias H field by considering the relative strength of the three relevant exchange parameters in o-TMO. The proposed modulated structure based on density-functional theory (DFT) calculations is described in terms of the spin angle phi between the neighboring Mn4+-Mn3+ spin moments on the a-b plane. We have shown that the computed DFT polarization plotted as a function of f satisfactorily accounts for the observed H-field-induced polarization switching. We have further theoretically shown that the square of the critical field strength (H-c) needed for the polarization switching is inversely proportional to the degree of the extrinsic magnetoelectric coupling. The computed partial charge density demonstrates that the H-field-induced polarization switching also accompanies with the switching in the sign of the excess valence-electron density.