High temperature spin-driven multiferroicity in ludwigite chromocuprate Cu2CrBO5

We report spin-driven multiferroicity above 100 K in the ludwigite Cu(II) oxyborate Cu2CrBO5. Spontaneous polarization, which reaches 35 μC m−2 at 5 K, appears below 120 K, concomitantly with an incommensurate antiferromagnetic order and complex magnetodielectric effects. In magnetically induced ferroelectrics, multiferroicity usually appears at low temperature because of the competing magnetic exchanges needed to stabilize a magnetic spiral. The remarkably high transition temperature observed in Cu2CrBO5 originates from the presence of strong Cu–O–Cu magnetic super-exchange interactions, which are not weakened by Cu/Cr cationic disorder. Our result provides an important contribution to the search for high temperature spin-driven multiferroics among low-dimensional cuprates.