Hosted by: Alexei Tsvelik

Upon cooling, the compound YBaCuFeO5 undergoes a phase transition to an antiferromagnetic long-range ordered phase. Upon further cooling, a second phase transition to a magnetic spiral phase takes place. The latter transition temperature depends on the sample preparation and can reach room temperature. We propose a mechanism to explain the transition to a magnetic spiral ordered phase due to frustrating magnetic interactions that are introduced randomly along a single crystallographic direction as caused by a particular type of chemical disorder. This mechanism could open the way to high-temperature multiferroism.