High-Magnetic-Sensitivity Magnetoelectric Coupling Origins in a Combination of Anisotropy and Exchange Striction.

Magnetoelectric (ME) coupling is highly desirable for sensors and memory devices. Herein, the polarization ( P ) and magnetization ( M ) of the DyFeO 3 single crystal were measured in pulsed magnetic fields, in which the ME behavior is modulated by multi-magnetic order parameters and has high magnetic-field sensitivity. Below the ordering temperature of the Dy 3+ -sublattice, when the magnetic field is along the c -axis, the P (corresponding to a large critical field of 3 T) is generated due to the exchange striction mechanism. Interestingly, when the magnetic field is in the ab -plane, ME coupling with smaller critical fields of 0.8 T ( a -axis) and 0.5 T ( b -axis) is triggered. We assume that the high magnetic-field sensitivity results from the combination of the magnetic anisotropy of the Dy 3+ spin and the exchange striction between the Fe 3+ and Dy 3+ spins. This work may help to search for single-phase multiferroic materials with high magnetic-field sensitivity.