Effects of Magnetoelectric Ordering Due to Interfacial Symmetry Breaking

We examine the effects of interfacial symmetry breaking between ferroelectric and ferromagnetic (FM) materials. Using a standard Ginzburg-Landau formalism, we show that the presence of a linear coupling between electric polarization and magnetization produces spatial modulations of the ordered states. This coupling can also induce interfacial order from a non-ordered state. In the case of the paramagnetic state, this coupling produces a shift of the transition temperature and can drive the system from non-ordered to ordered at the interface. For the paraelectric state, an induced interfacial polarization emerges due to the FM state in the adjacent material.