Ferroelectricity from iron valence ordering in the charge-frustrated system LuFeO

Ikeda, Naoshi*; Osumi, Hiroyuki*; Owada, Kenji; Ishii, Kenji; Inami, Toshiya; Kakurai, Kazuhisa; Murakami, Yoichi*; Yoshii, Kenji; Mori, Shigeo*; Horibe, Yoichi*; et al.

Nature, 436(7054), p.1136 - 1138, 2005/08

https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04039

By means of resonant X-ray scattering experiments using synchrotron radiation of SPring-8, it was found that a mixed-valence system LuFeO is a ferroelectric material owing to a real-space charge-ordering of Fe and Fe. This ordering is rooted in a charge frustration between the Fe ions on a triangular lattice. The new mechanism of ferroelectricity shown in the present paper offers great potential for designing future ferroelectric devices to be coupled or controlled with the degrees of freedom of electron: charge, spin and orbital.