Magnetic switching and phase competition in the multiferroic antiferromagnet $rm Mn_{1-x}Fe_xWO_4$

Abstract

Elastic neutron scattering is used to study the spin correlations in the multiferroic antiferromagnet $rm Mn_{1-x}Fe_{x}WO_4$ with $x=0.035, 0.05$ and $0.10$. The noncollinear, incommensurate (ICM) magnetic structure associated with the ferroelectric (FE) phase in pure $rm MnWO_4$ is suppressed at $x=0.035$ and completely absent at $x=0.10$. The ICM spin order and FE phase can be restored by applying a magnetic field along the spin easy-axis. The low-$T$ commensurate magnetic structure extends in both H/T with increasing Fe concentration. The systematic evolution of the magnetic and electric properties indicates that the noncollinear ICM spin order results from competing magnetic interactions and its stabilization can be tuned by the internal ($x$) or external (magnetic field) perturbations.