Magnetoelectric phase diagrams of multiferroicGdMn2O5
Electric and magnetic properties of multiferroic GdMn 2 O 5 in external magnetic fields were investigated to map out the magnetoelectric phases in this material. Due to strong magnetoelectric coupling, the dielectric permittivity is highly sensitive to phase boundaries in GdMn 2 O 5 , which allowed us to construct the field-temperature phase diagrams. Several phase transitions are observed which are strongly field dependent with respect to field orientation and strength. The phase diagram for a magnetic field along the crystallographic a axis corresponds well to a polarization step, as induced by 90° rotation of Gd magnetic moments. Our results support the model of two ferroelectric sublattices, Mn-Mn and Gd-Mn, with strong R -Mn (4f - 3d) interaction for the polarization in R Mn 2 O 5 .