Multiferroic order parameters in rhombic antiferromagnets RCrO3

In this paper, we explore magneteoelectricity of rare earth orthochromites from the symmetry point of view. We determine the principal structural order parameters and find their couplings with ferroelectric and magnetic orderings. Our calculations showed that electric dipole moments emerge in the vicinity of Cr3+ ions in the unit cell of RCrO3 due to the displacements of oxygen ions from their highly symmetric positions in the parent perovskite phase (structural instability). We find that the electric dipole moments are arranged in an antiferroelectric mode, so, in essence, RCrO3 are antiferroelectric materials. By classifying the order parameters according to the irreducible representations of the RCrO3 symmetry group (D2h16), we determine the possible couplings between distortive, ferroelectric and magnetic orderings and explore the emerging magnetoelectric structures in these terms. Our analysis makes it possible to explain experimentally observed polarization reversal and the concomitant reorientation of spins in a series of RCrO3 compounds and to predict the possible scenarios of phase transitions in RCrO3.