Magnetoelectrical control of nonreciprocal microwave response in a multiferroic helimagnet.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28480887.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms15252 and PMC identifier 5424162.
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Abstract
The control of physical properties by external fields is essential in many contemporary technologies. For example, conductance can be controlled by a gate electric field in a field effect transistor, which is a main component of integrated circuits. Optical phenomena induced by an electric field such as electroluminescence and electrochromism are useful for display and other technologies. Control of microwave propagation is also important for future wireless communication technology. Microwave properties in solids are dominated mostly by magnetic excitations, which cannot be easily controlled by an electric field. One solution to this problem is to use magnetically induced ferroelectrics (multiferroics). Here we show that microwave nonreciprocity, that is, different refractive indices for microwaves propagating in opposite directions, could be reversed by an external electric field in a multiferroic helimagnet Ba<sub>2</sub>Mg<sub>2</sub>Fe<sub>12</sub>O<sub>22</sub>. This approach offers an avenue for the electrical control of microwave properties.