title: Predicting a ferrimagnetic phase of Zn(2)FeOsO(6) with strong magnetoelectric coupling.
abstract: Multiferroic materials, in which ferroelectric and magnetic ordering coexist, are of practical interest for the development of novel memory devices that allow for electrical writing and nondestructive magnetic readout operation. The great challenge is to create room temperature multiferroic materials with strongly coupled ferroelectric and ferromagnetic (or ferrimagnetic) orderings. BiFeO_{3} is the most heavily investigated single-phase multiferroic to date due to the coexistence of its magnetic order and ferroelectric order at room temperature. However, there is no net magnetic moment in the cycloidal (antiferromagneticlike) magnetic state of bulk BiFeO_{3}, which severely limits its realistic applications in electric field controlled memory devices. Here, we predict that LiNbO_{3}-type Zn_{2}FeOsO_{6} is a new multiferroic with properties superior to BiFeO_{3}. First, there are strong ferroelectricity and strong ferrimagnetism at room temperature in Zn_{2}FeOsO_{6}. Second, the easy plane of the spontaneous magnetization can be switched by an external electric field, evidencing the strong magnetoelectric coupling existing in this system. Our results suggest that ferrimagnetic 3d-5d LiNbO_{3}-type material may therefore be used to achieve voltage control of magnetism in future memory devices.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences (Ministry of Education), State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, and International Center of Quantum and Molecular Structures, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Physics Department and Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bellaiche
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences (Ministry of Education), State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Xiang