Magnetic and electric field dependent anisotropic magnetoelectric multiferroicity in SmMn₃Cr₄O₁₂

An A-site ordered perovskite SmMn3Cr4O12 with a cubic Im-3 space group was prepared at high pressure and temperature conditions. Two antiferromagnetic phase transitions are found to occur with decreasing temperature to TN1≈145K and TN2≈41K, due to the spin orderings of the B-site Cr3+ and A′-site Mn3+ magnetic sublattices, respectively. The total spin structure composed of these two magnetic sublattices can break the space inversion symmetry and therefore induce a spontaneous ferroelectric phase transition at TN2. More interestingly, the magnetoelectric multiferroicity of the polycrystalline SmMn3Cr4O12 exhibits remarkable magnetic and electric field dependent anisotropic quadratic behaviors upon a proper magnetoelectric poling procedure. When the applied magnetic field is parallel to the electric field, the magnetic field can significantly enhance the electric polarization. In contrast, the polarization is sharply suppressed if the magnetic field is perpendicular to the electric field, irrespective of the sign of the magnetic field. © 2021 American Physical Society