Magnetoelectric effect in antiferromagnetic crystals

Magnetoelectric experiments provide information on spin configurations, critical indices and microscopic ionic interactions. The basic theory of the magnetoelectric effect in antiferromagnets is rederived in this article and extended to situations in which there is an external magnetic field including the spin-flop phase. It is found that measurements of the magnetoelectric tensor α as a function of field in the antiferromagnetic and spin-flop phases of an antiferromagnet can provide more complete information in all three categories above. Certain higher-order terms are examined and it is found that it is possible to measure the staggered susceptibility directly in magnetoelectric materials. It is shown that a non-zero value of α causes a tetragonal antiferromagnet to be optically biaxial. A pedagogical discussion of the origins of magnetoelectric effects is given in the Appendix.