Abstract
LuFe2O4 often is considered as a prototypical multiferroic with polar order arising from the electronic degrees of freedom only (“electronic ferroelectricity”). In the present work, we check the intrinsic nature of the dielectric response of this material by performing dielectric measurements of polycrystalline samples with different types of contact materials and with different grain sizes. In addition, frequency-dependent measurements of the electric-field dependent polarization are provided. The obtained results unequivocally prove that the reported colossal dielectric constants in LuFe2O4, which were interpreted in terms of electronic ferroelectricity, are of non-intrinsic surface-related origin. The intrinsic dielectric properties of this material show no indications of any ferroelectric order and, thus, LuFe2O4 is not multiferroic. Its intrinsic dielectric constant is close to 20 and its dielectric loss is dominated by charge transport via variable range hopping.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
T. Kimura, T. Goto, H. Shintani, K. Ishizaka, T. Arima, Y. Tokura, Nature 426, 55 (2003)
D.V. Efremov, J. van den Brink, D.I. Khomskii, Nature Mater. 3, 853 (2004)
J. van den Brink, D.I. Khomskii, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 20, 434217 (2008)
P. Lunkenheimer, V. Bobnar, A.V. Pronin, A.I. Ritus, A.A. Volkov, A. Loidl, Phys. Rev. B 66, 052105 (2002)
P. Lunkenheimer, S. Krohns, S. Riegg, S.G. Ebbinghaus, A. Reller, A. Loidl, Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 180, 61 (2010)
P. Lunkenheimer, R. Fichtl, S.G. Ebbinghaus, A. Loidl, Phys. Rev. B 70, 172102 (2004)
J.F. Scott, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 20, 021001 (2008)
A. Loidl, S. Krohns, J. Hemberger, P. Lunkenheimer, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 20, 191001 (2008)
N. Ikeda, H. Ohsumi, K. Ohwada, K. Ishii, T. Inami, K. Kakurai, Y. Murakami, K. Yoshii, S. Mori, Y. Horibe, H. Kitô, Nature 436, 1136 (2005)
K. Kato, S. Iida, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn 51, 1335 (1982)
M. Alexe, M. Ziese, D. Hesse, P. Esquinazi, K. Yamauchi, T. Fukushima, S. Picozzi, U. Gösele, Adv. Mater. 21, 4452 (2009)
F. Schrettle, S. Krohns, P. Lunkenheimer, V.A.M. Brabers, A. Loidl, Phys. Rev. B 83, 195109 (2011)
Ch. Jooss, L. Wu, T. Beetz, R.F. Klie, M. Beleggia, M.A. Schofield, S. Schramm, J. Hoffmann, Y. Zhu, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 13597 (2007)
A.M.L. Lopes, J.P. Araújo, V.S. Amaral, J.G. Correia, Y. Tomioka, Y. Tokura, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 155702 (2008)
M.S. Senn, J.P. Wright, J.P. Attfield, Nature 481, 173 (2012)
J. de Groot, T. Mueller, R.A. Rosenberg, D.J. Keavney, Z. Islam, J.-W. Kim, M. Angst, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 187601 (2012)
P. Ren, Z. Yang, W.G. Zhu, C.H.A. Huan, L. Wang, J. Appl. Phys. 109, 074109 (2011)
D. Niermann, F. Waschkowski, J. de Groot, M. Angst, J. Hemberger, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 016405 (2012)
J. Sebald, S. Krohns, P. Lunkenheimer, S.G. Ebbinghaus, S. Riegg, A. Reller, A. Loidl, Solid State Commun. 150, 857 (2010)
R. Böhmer, M. Maglione, P. Lunkenheimer, A. Loidl, J. Appl. Phys. 65, 901 (1989)
U. Schneider, P. Lunkenheimer, A. Pimenov, R. Brand, A. Loidl, Ferroelectrics 249, 89 (2001)
J. Iida, M. Tanaka, I. Nakagawa, S. Funahashi, N. Kimizuka, S. Takekawa, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn 62, 1723 (1993)
W. Wu, V. Kiryukhin, H.-J. Noh, K.-T. Ko, J.-H. Park, W. Ratcliff II, P.A. Sharma, N. Harrison, Y.J. Choi, Y. Horibe, S. Lee, S. Park, H.T. Yi, C.L. Zhang, S.-W. Cheong, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 137203 (2008)
M. Angst, R.P. Hermann, A.D. Christianson, M.D. Lumsden, C. Lee, M.-H. Whangbo, J.-W. Kim, P.J. Ryan, S.E. Nagler, W. Tian, R. Jin, B.C. Sales, D. Mandrus, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 227601 (2008)
A.D. Christianson, M.D. Lumsden, M. Angst, Z. Yamani, W. Tian, R. Jin, E.A. Payzant, S.E. Nagler, B.C. Sales, D. Mandrus, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 107601 (2008)
N. Ikeda, K. Kohn, N. Myouga, E. Takahashi, H. Kitôh, S. Takekawa, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn 69, 1526 (2000)
C.C. Wang, L.W. Zhang, Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 042906 (2006)
G. Deng, T. Yamada, P. Muralt, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 202903 (2007)
S. Krohns, P. Lunkenheimer, S.G. Ebbinghaus, A. Loidl, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 022910 (2007)
S. Krohns, P. Lunkenheimer, S.G. Ebbinghaus, A. Loidl, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 149902 (2007)
S. Krohns, P. Lunkenheimer, S.G. Ebbinghaus, A. Loidl, J. Appl. Phys. 103, 084107 (2008)
D.C. Sinclair, T.B. Adams, F.D. Morrison, A.R. West, Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 2153 (2002)
S.-Y. Chung, I.-D. Kim, S.-J.L. Kang, Nature Mater. 3, 774 (2004)
J. Hemberger, Dielektrische Spektroskopie am Orientier-ungsglasübergang (Shaker, Aachen, 1997)
N.F. Mott, E.A. Davis, Electronic Processes in Non-Crystalline Materials (Clarendon, Oxford, 1979)
J. Fontcuberta, B. Martinez, A. Seffar, S. Pinol, J.L. Garcia-Muñoz, X. Obradors, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 1122 (1996)
A. Seeger, P. Lunkenheimer, J. Hemberger, A.A. Mukhin, V.Yu. Ivanov, A.M. Balbashov, A. Loidl, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 11, 3273 (1999)
B. Renner, P. Lunkenheimer, M. Schetter, A. Loidl, A. Reller, S.G. Ebbinghaus, J. Appl. Phys. 96, 4400 (2004)
P. Lunkenheimer, T. Götzfried, R. Fichtl, S. Weber, T. Rudolf, A. Loidl, A. Reller, S.G. Ebbinghaus, J. Solid State Chem. 179, 3965 (2006)
C.C. Homes, T. Vogt, S.M. Shapiro, S. Wakimoto, A.P. Ramirez, Science 293, 673 (2001)
J. Rivas, B. Rivas-Murias, A. Fondado, J. Mira, M.A. Senaris-Rodriguez, Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 6224 (2004)
T. Park, Z. Nussinov, K.R.A. Hazzard, V.A. Sidorov, A.V. Balatsky, J.L. Sarrao, S.-W. Cheong, M.F. Hundley, J.-S. Lee, Q.X. Jia, J.D. Thompson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 017002 (2005)
S. Krohns, P. Lunkenheimer, S. Meissner, A. Reller, B. Gleich, A. Rathgeber, T. Gaugler, H.U. Buhl, D.C. Sinclair, A. Loidl, Nature Mater. 10, 899 (2011)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ruff, A., Krohns, S., Schrettle, F. et al. Absence of polar order in LuFe2O4 . Eur. Phys. J. B 85, 290 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2012-30296-6
Received:
Revised:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2012-30296-6