Study of magnetoelectric coupling in novel spin frustrated multiferroics

Multiferroics are the materials in which magnetic, electric and/or elastic order parameters are simultaneously present. As a consequence, the magnetic (electric) domains can be tuned by the application of an external electric (magnetic) field and/or strain, suggesting tremendous potential for innovative device applications and exploration of the fundamental physics of coupled phenomena. In order to achieve these potential applications, the microscopic origin of the coupling between electric and magnetic order parameters should be known. In this talk, I will present some of my results related to these spin frustrated multiferroic materials. The focus will be on recently discovered magnetoelectric compound Bi2Fe4O9, competing magnetic interaction in Ni3V2O8, role of strain on multiferroic properties, and microscopic origin of multiferroicity in hexagonal YMnO3. 
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4. A. K. Singh et al., Phys. Rev B 81, 184406 (2010).