Magnetoelectric effect in a single crystal of the frustrated spinel CoAl2O4

The magnetic ground state of CoAl2O4 has been a controversial issue because the ratio of nearest- (J(1)) to next-nearest-neighbor (J(2)) exchange interactions in the diamond lattice is close to the boundary between a spiral spin liquid and a long-range ordered antiferromagnetic ground state. Recently, Ghara et al. reported a linear magnetoelectric effect in a polycrystalline CoAl2O4 and attributed it to a long-range magnetic order. However, the magnetic ground state and the easy axis anisotropy remained unsolved. Here we propose the easy magnetic axis direction by comparing the results of magnetoelectric measurements in a high-quality single crystal with phenomenological calculations. From the value of polarization ratio P parallel to[1-10] measured under magnetic field applied along H parallel to[1-10] and H parallel to[001], we determined that the magnetic easy axis is along [111]. The single ion contribution of the magnetic ions located at the noncentrosymmetric environment is responsible for the magnetoelectric effect similar to that observed in other A-site magnetic spinel oxides, Co3O4, MnB2O4 (B = Al, Ga).

Automated summary

In this study, the magnetic easy axis direction of CoAl2O4 was determined to be along [111] by comparing results of magnetoelectric measurements in a high-quality single crystal with phenomenological calculations. The magnetoelectric effect observed in CoAl2O4 is attributed to the single ion contribution of magnetic ions located at the noncentrosymmetric environment, similar to that observed in other A-site magnetic spinel oxides.