The RMn_(2)O_(5) manganite compounds represent one class of multiferroic family with magnetic origins,which has been receiving continuous attention in the past decade.So far,our understanding of the magnetic origins for ferroelectricity in RMn_(2)O_(5) is associated with the nearly collinear antiferromagnetic structure of Mn ions,while the exchange striction induced ionic displacements are the consequence of the spin frustration competitions.While this scenario may be applied to almost all RMn_(2)O_(5) members,its limitation is either clear:the temperature-dependent behaviors of electric polarization and its responses to external stimuli are seriously materials dependent.These inconsistences raise substantial concern with the state-of-the-art physics of ferroelectricity in RMn_(2)O_(5).In this mini-review,we present our recent experimental results on the roles of the 4f moments from R ions which are intimately coupled with the 3d moments from Mn ions.DyMn_(2)O_(5) is a golden figure for illustrating these roles.It is demonstrated that the spin structure accommodates two nearly collinear sublattices which generate respectively two ferroelectric(FE)sublattices,enabling DyMn_(2)O_(5) an emergent ferrielectric(FIE)system rarely identified in magnetically induced FEs.The evidence is presented from several aspects,including FIE-like phenomena and magnetoelectric responses,proposed structural model,and experimental check by nonmagnetic substitutions of the 3d and 4f moments.Additional perspectives regarding possible challenges in understanding the multiferroicity of RMn_(2)O_(5) as a generalized scenario are discussed.
A three-terminal device based on electronic phase separated manganites is suggested to produce high performance resistive switching. Our Monte Carlo simulations reveal that the conductive filaments can be formed/annihilated by reshaping the ferromagnetic metal phase domains with two cross-oriented switching voltages. Besides, by controlling the high resistance state（HRS） to a stable state that just after the filament is ruptured, the resistive switching remains stable and reversible, while the switching voltage and the switching time can be greatly reduced.
The ferroelectric polarization and phase diagram in Tm-doped Gd MnO3 are studied by means of Monte Carlo simulation based on the Mochizuki–Furukawa model. Our work well reproduces the low temperature polarization at various substitution levels observed experimentally. It is demonstrated that the Tm-doping can control the multiferroic behaviors through modulating the spin structures, resulting in the flop of the electric polarization. In addition, the polarization in the ab-plane cycloidal spin phase arises from comparable contributions of the symmetric exchange striction and antisymmetric exchange striction, leading to much bigger polarization than that in the bc-plane cycloidal spin phase where only the contribution of the latter striction is available. The phase diagram obtained in our simulation is helpful for clarifying the multiferroic properties in doped manganite systems and other related multiferroics.
