Multiferroicity in Perovskite Manganite Superlattice

Multiferroic properties of short period perovskite type manganite superlattice ((R₁MnO₃)_n/(R₂MnO₃)_n (n=1,2,3)) are considered within the framework of classical Heisenberg model using Monte Carlo simulation. Our result revealed the interesting behaviors in Mn spins structure in superlattice. Apart from simple plane spin cycloid structure which is shown in all manganites including bulk, film, and superlattice here in low temperature, a non-coplanar spiral spin structure is exhibited in a certain temperature range when n equals 1, 2 or 3. Specific heat, spin-helicity vector, spin correlation function, spin-helicity correlation function, and spin configuration are calculated to confirm this non-coplanar spiral spin structure. These results are associated with the competition among exchange interaction, magnetic anisotropy, and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.