Abstract

We show the directional dichroism in a collinear antiferromagnet MnTiO3. The dichroism between two distinctive antiferromagnetic states with opposite signs of staggered magnetic moments can be regarded as magnetochiral dichroism in the absence of external fields. Electric-field reversal of antiferromagnetic domain causes a change in the absorption intensity of unpolarized light around 2.15 eV. The difference in optical absorption between two antiferromagnetic states is reversed for the light propagating in the opposite direction. The absorption coefficient displays a hysteretic behavior for a cycle of sweeping the external electric or magnetic field.

Paper

Title: Magnetochiral Dichroism in a Collinear Antiferromagnet with No Magnetization
Publication: Physical Review Letters
Author: Tatsuki Sato*, Nobuyuki Abe, Shojiro Kimura, Yusuke Tokunaga, and Taka-hisa Arima
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.217402
Date: 27 May 2020