Presented by Corbyn Mellinger: “Hexagonal rare earth manganite and ferrite (h-RXO3) materials have been of particular interest in the last several decades due to their structural, ferroelectric, and magnetic properties. Stabilization of these otherwise orthorhombic materials into hexagonal phases introduces distortions which produce ferroelectricity at temperatures below Tc (~ 1000 K). This structural frustration also leads to Néel temperatures at or below room temperature.

While manganites have been studied extensively, the ferrite forms are in quasi-equilibrium, and have relatively recently been synthesized. The stronger magnetic interactions in these ferrites naturally leads to more interesting magnetic behaviors, showing an additional ferromagnetic phase below the Néel temperature. In both cases, remarkable topological vortex structures can be seen in their structural and ferroelectric properties. During this talk, I will discuss the physical mechanisms which couple the structural, ferroelectric, and magnetic properties of this class of materials, as well as to define their couplings through the concept of the observed topological defect vortices. Finally, further research will be proposed to investigate the possibility of direct control of magnetism via modulation of the electric polarization.”