Introduction

Researchers have identified a unique mechanism of electric polarization via magnetic ordering in a novel mineral named “MnBi2S4”, which can be useful for energy-efficient data storage.

About Magnetoelectric Multiferroics

This special class of materials is renowned for their rarity and unique properties, capable of exhibiting both magnetism and ferroelectricity simultaneously.
They find applications in advanced technology like spintronics, electronic memory devices, actuators, and switches.

Also known as mineral gratianite, it belongs to the ternary manganese chalcogenide family.
It showcases distinct magnetic structures, including a spin density wave, cycloidal, and helical spin structures.
Notably, the latter two spin structures induce ferro-electricity in the material.
MnBi2S4 is centro-symmetric and undergoes magnetic ordering at low temperatures (27, 23, and 21.5 Kelvins).

This finding highlights the strong coupling between magnetism and electric polarization.
The unique mechanism, driven by magnetic frustration, represents a breakthrough in magnetoelectric coupling.
If the material can exhibit the same phenomena at room temperature, it could revolutionize data storage by reducing energy consumption during writing processes.
Additionally, these findings could aid in the development of a four-state logic memory system, providing additional degrees of freedom for device performance compared to current binary logic systems.