Abstract

Multiferroic materials with their coexisting ordered states of electric and magnetic dipoles have the potential to revolutionize electronics. The quest for these materials is driven by the perspective to control charges by applied magnetic fields and spins by applied voltages, which can be used to construct novel multifunctional devices. Magnetoelectric interactions in solids are fundamentally different from the linear dynamic coupling between electric and magnetic fields described by Maxwell equations. The locking between the static polarization and magnetization vectors requires simultaneous breaking of space and time inversion symmetries in solids, similar to the P- and CP-parity violation in our Universe. Unraveling the complexities of interactions between charge, spin, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom in strongly correlated electronic materials and complex magnets makes the study of multiferroics fundamentally important and exciting. In my talk I will summarize recent progress that led to discovery of new multiferroic compounds and spectacular magnetoelectric effects, and outline directions for future research.