Spin-Order-Induced Ferroelectricity and Magnetoelectric Effect in LiCuFe2(VO4)3

The coexistence of ferroelectricity and magnetism---for a long time considered mutually exclusive phenomena---now underpins the flourishing field of magnetoelectric multiferroicity. The authors investigate the multiferroic properties induced by spin ordering in a complex oxide that in many respects differs from any magnetoelectric material studied to date. Besides its general interest, this compound would seem to be of direct relevance for exquisitely sensitive measurements of magnetic fields.