RESUMEN
Magnetoelectric properties are studied by a combined experimental and theoretical study of a quasi-two-dimensional material composed of square cupolas, Ba(TiO)Cu_{4}(PO_{4})_{4}. The magnetization is measured up to the field above the saturation, and several anomalies are observed depending on the field directions. We propose a S=1/2 spin model with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, which reproduces the full magnetization curves well. Elaborating the phase diagram of the model, we show that the anomalies are explained by magnetoelectric phase transitions. Our theory also accounts for the scaling of the dielectric anomaly observed in the experiments. The results elucidate the crucial role of the in-plane component of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, which is induced by the noncoplanar buckling of a square cupola. We also predict a "hidden" phase and another magnetoelectric response, both of which appear in a nonzero magnetic field.
RESUMEN
Single crystals of two novel tetragonal chiral materials, A(TiO)Cu4(PO4)4 (A = Ba, Sr), were grown from Na2Mo2O7 flux, and their crystal and chiral domain structures were characterized. Polarized-light microscopy studies of the chiral domain structures in the crystals show that Ba(TiO)Cu4(PO4)4 mostly hosts a multidomain state, while a monodomain state predominantly appears in Sr(TiO)Cu4(PO4)4. To explain this striking difference, we quantified the chirality strength of these materials by comparing atomic positions in the chiral and nearest-achiral crystal structures, revealing larger chirality strength in Sr(TiO)Cu4(PO4)4 than in Ba(TiO)Cu4(PO4)4. Our proposed mechanisms linking the chirality strength and domain formation can account for the different occurrence frequency of chiral domains in this system.