Abstract
Symmetry engineering is explicitly effective to manipulate and even create phases and orderings in strongly correlated materials. Flexural stress is universally practical to break the space-inversion or time-reversal symmetry. Here, by introducing strain gradient in a centrosymmetric antiferromagnet Sr2IrO4, the space-inversion symmetry is broken accompanying a nonequivalent O p-Ir d orbital hybridization along the z axis. Thus, an emergent polar phase and out-of-plane magnetic moment have been simultaneously observed in these asymmetric Sr2IrO4 thin films, which both are absent in its ground state. Furthermore, upon the application of a magnetic field, such polarization can be controlled by modifying the occupied d orbitals through spin-orbit interaction, giving rise to a flexomagnetoelectric effect. This Letter provides a general strategy to artificially design multiple symmetries and ferroic orderings in strongly correlated systems.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 156505 |
Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 133 |
Issue number | 15 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 11 Oct 2024 |