High Temperature Magnetoelectric Materials

This proposal aims at discovering entirely new spin-driven magnetoelectric materials with relatively high critical temperature and strong magnetoelectric coupling. Apart from the polycrystalline materials, high quality single crystals will be prepared.

Apart from their far-reaching technological prospects, the proposed materials with distinct noncolinear and non-coplanar spin structures may further shed new light on the understanding of the mechanism of spin-driven magnetoelectric effect in various complex magnets.

These materials will be further studied for their potential multicaloric effect (using their magnetoelectric properties), which is crucial for the emerging field of solid-state cooling technology.

Unlike the extensively studied magnetocaloric effect, the multicaloric effect due to the combined effect of magnetic and electric ordering (in multiferroic magnetoelectric materials) mostly remained unexplored, while it has a huge potential for showing highly efficient solid-state cooling effect.

In this regard, this study may be significantly important to make substantial advancement in the field of solid-state cooling.

In addition, the proposal also aims to make bi-layer epitaxial thin films of the potential new magnetoelectric materials along with a ferromagnetic material to realize the electric field control of the magnetic switching by altering the magnetic exchange bias effect under various electric fields (utilizing the magnetoelectric effect).

Therefore, the new results in the field of novel magnetoelectric materials and their expected potential applications in multicaloric effect and magnetic switching, can be potentially important for the future direction of spintronics, data storage, and solid-state refrigeration technology.

The research will be carried out using cutting-edge methods of synthesis (polycrystal, single crystal, and thin films) and advanced characterization techniques available in the host institute and their collaborating labs.