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1. Electric‐Field Manipulation of Magnetic Chirality in a Homo‐Ferro‐Rotational Helimagnet

   https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202402048  

   Yang, Junjie; Matsuda, Masaaki; Tyson, Trevor; Young, Joshua; Ratcliff, William; Gao, Yunpeng; Obeysekera, Dimuthu; Guo, Xiaoyu; Owen, Rachel; Zhao, Liuyan; et al (July 2024, Advanced Science)

   Abstract Ferro‐rotational (FR) materials, renowned for their distinctive material functionalities, present challenges in the growth of homo‐FR crystals (i.e., single FR domain). This study explores a cost‐effective approach to growing homo‐FR helimagnetic RbFe(SO₄)₂(RFSO) crystals by lowering the crystal growth temperature below theT_FRthreshold using the high‐pressure hydrothermal method. Through polarized neutron diffraction experiments, it is observed that nearly 86% of RFSO crystals consist of a homo‐FR domain. Notably, RFSO displays remarkable stability in the FR phase, with an exceptionally highT_FRof ≈573 K. Furthermore, RFSO exhibits a chiral helical magnetic structure with switchable ferroelectric polarization below 4 K. Importantly, external electric fields can induce a single magnetic domain state and manipulate its magnetic chirality. The findings suggest that the search for new FR magnets with outstanding material properties should consider magnetic sulfates as promising candidates. 

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2. Strain‐Driven Stabilization of a Room‐Temperature Chiral Multiferroic with Coupled Ferroaxial and Ferroelectric Order

   https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202416560  

   Ren, Guodong; Jung, Gwan Yeong; Chen, Huandong; Wang, Chong; Zhao, Boyang; Vasudevan, Rama K; Hachtel, Jordan A; Lupini, Andrew R; Chi, Miaofang; Xiao, Di; et al (March 2025, Advanced Functional Materials)

   Abstract Noncollinear ferroic materials are sought after as testbeds to explore the intimate connections between topology and symmetry, which result in electronic, optical, and magnetic functionalities not observed in collinear ferroic materials. For example, ferroaxial materials have rotational structural distortions that break mirror symmetry and induce chirality. When ferroaxial order is coupled with ferroelectricity arising from a broken inversion symmetry, it offers the prospect of electric‐field‐control of the ferroaxial distortions and opens up new tunable functionalities. However, chiral multiferroics, especially ones stable at room temperature, are rare. A strain‐stabilized, room‐temperature chiral multiferroic phase in single crystals of BaTiS₃is reported here. Using first‐principles calculations, the stabilization of this multiferroic phase havingP6₃space group for biaxial tensile strains exceeding 1.5% applied on the basalab‐plane of the room temperatureP6₃cmphase of BaTiS₃is predicted. The chiral multiferroic phase is characterized by rotational distortions of TiS₆octahedra around the longc‐axis and polar displacement of Ti atoms along thec‐axis. The ferroaxial and ferroelectric distortions and their domains inP6₃‐BaTiS₃are directly resolved using atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. Landau‐based phenomenological modeling predicts a strong coupling between the ferroelectric and the ferroaxial order makingP6₃‐BaTiS₃an attractive test bed for achieving electric‐field‐control of chirality. 

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3. Ferroelectric Control of Anisotropic Magnetoresistance in Ultrathin Sr ₂ IrO ₄ Films toward 2D Metallic Limit

   https://doi.org/10.1002/apxr.202400208  

   Zhang, Yuanyuan; Wu, Qiuchen; Hao, Yifei; Hong, Xia (August 2025, Advanced Physics Research)

   Abstract The Ruddlesden‐Popper 5diridate Sr₂IrO₄is an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator with the electronic, magnetic, and structural properties highly intertwined. Voltage control of its magnetic state is of intense fundmenatal and technological interest but remains to be demonstrated. Here, the tuning of magnetotransport properties in 5.2 nm Sr₂IrO₄via interfacial ferroelectric PbZr_0.2Ti_0.8O₃is reported. The conductance of the epitaxial PbZr_0.2Ti_0.8O₃/Sr₂IrO₄heterostructure exhibits ln(T) behavior that is characteristic of 2D correlated metal, in sharp contrast to the thermally activated behavior followed by 3D variable range hopping observed in single‐layer Sr₂IrO₄films. Switching PbZr_0.2Ti_0.8O₃polarization induces nonvolatile, reversible resistance modulation in Sr₂IrO₄. At low temperatures, the in‐plane magnetoresisance in the heterostructure transitions from positive to negative at high magnetic fields, opposite to the field dependence in single‐layer Sr₂IrO₄. In the polarization down state, the out‐of‐plane anisotropic magnetoresistanceR_AMRexhibits sinusoidal angular dependence, with a 90° phase shift below 20 K. For the polarization up state, unusual multi‐level resistance pinning appears inR_AMRbelow 30 K, pointing to enhanced magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The work sheds new light on the intriguing interplay of interface lattice coupling, charge doping, magnetoelastic effect, and possible incipient ferromagnetism in Sr₂IrO₄, facilitating the functional design of its electronic and material properties. 

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4. Competing itinerant and local spin interactions in kagome metal FeGe

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44190-2  

   Chen, Lebing; Teng, Xiaokun; Tan, Hengxin; Winn, Barry L; Granroth, Garrett E; Ye, Feng; Yu, D H; Mole, R A; Gao, Bin; Yan, Binghai; et al (December 2024, Nature Communications)

   Abstract The combination of a geometrically frustrated lattice, and similar energy scales between degrees of freedom endows two-dimensional Kagome metals with a rich array of quantum phases and renders them ideal for studying strong electron correlations and band topology. The Kagome metal, FeGe is a noted example of this, exhibiting A-type collinear antiferromagnetic (AFM) order atT_N ≈ 400 K, then establishes a charge density wave (CDW) phase coupled with AFM ordered moment belowT_CDW ≈ 110 K, and finally forms ac-axis double cone AFM structure aroundT_Canting ≈ 60 K. Here we use neutron scattering to demonstrate the presence of gapless incommensurate spin excitations associated with the double cone AFM structure of FeGe at temperatures well aboveT_CantingandT_CDWthat merge into gapped commensurate spin waves from the A-type AFM order. Commensurate spin waves follow the Bose factor and fit the Heisenberg Hamiltonian, while the incommensurate spin excitations, emerging belowT_Nwhere AFM order is commensurate, start to deviate from the Bose factor aroundT_CDW, and peaks atT_Canting. This is consistent with a critical scattering of a second order magnetic phase transition with decreasing temperature. By comparing these results with density functional theory calculations, we conclude that the incommensurate magnetic structure arises from the nested Fermi surfaces of itinerant electrons and the formation of a spin density wave order. 

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5. Selective Catalytic Combustion of Hydrogen under Aerobic Conditions on Na ₂ WO ₄ /SiO ₂

   https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202412932  

   Kipp, Elijah R; Garcia‐Barriocanal, Javier; Bhan, Aditya (December 2024, Angewandte Chemie International Edition)

   Abstract Na₂WO₄/SiO₂, a material known to catalyze alkane selective oxidation including the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), is demonstrated to catalyze selective hydrogen combustion (SHC) with >97 % selectivity in mixtures with several hydrocarbons (CH₄, C₂H₆, C₂H₄, C₃H₆, C₆H₆) in the presence of gas‐phase dioxygen at 883–983 K. Hydrogen combustion rates exhibit a near‐first‐order dependence on H₂partial pressure and are zero‐order in H₂O and O₂partial pressures. Mechanistic studies at 923 K using isotopically‐labeled reagents demonstrate the kinetic relevance of H−H dissociation and absence of O‐atom recombination. In situ X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and W L_III‐edge X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) studies demonstrate, respectively, a loss of Na₂WO₄crystallinity and lack of second‐shell coordination with respect to W⁶⁺cations below 923 K; benchmark experiments show that alkali cations must be present for the material to be selective for hydrogen combustion, but that materials containing Na alone have much lower combustion rates (per gram Na) than those containing Na and W. These data suggest a synergy between Na and W in a disordered phase at temperatures below the bulk melting point of Na₂WO₄(971 K) during SHC catalysis. The Na₂WO₄/SiO₂SHC catalyst maintains stable combustion rates at temperatures ca. 100 K higher than redox‐active SHC catalysts and could potentially enable enhanced olefin yields in tandem operation of reactors combining alkane dehydrogenation with SHC processes. 

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