Multiferroic behavior from synergetic response of multiple ordering parameters in BiFeO3 single crystal under high magnetic field up to 50 Tesla

2020 Author(s). BiFeO3, a typical multiferroic compound, owns complicated interactions among its charge, lattice, and spin degrees, while largely remaining a mystery. In this work, the BiFeO3 single crystal has been investigated in pulsed high magnetic fields up to 50 T. The lattice, spin, and charge orderings are found to couple with each other strongly. High magnetic field could drive the spin cycloid phase to a canted antiferromagnetic phase while accompanied by a clear magnetostriction response and weakening of ferroelectric polarization. The critical magnetic field for the magnetic phase transition was shifted to the lower magnetic field region by an external electric field over a broad temperature range, which indicates the complex interaction among magnetization, electrical polarization, and crystal lattice. This work has provided a clear picture to show the synergetic response of multiple ordering parameters during the magnetic phase transition in BiFeO3, which could benefit the design of BiFeO3 based spintronic devices and novel multiferroic materials with strong magnetoelectric coupling.