Multiferroicity and magnetoelectric coupling in α-CaCr2O4

Ferroelectricity in the incommensurate helical magnetic phase (below TN, 43K) of alpha CaCr2O4 has been confirmed by pyroelectric measurements. Magnetoelectric and magnetodielectric coupling exist below TN and are proportional to the square of magnetic field. From symmetry analysis, we suggest that the presence of an external electric field destabilizes the symmetrical 2221' phase and stabilizes 21' symmetry. This provides a unique system in which polarization varies as the fourth-degree of the order-parameter amplitude and exhibit a vanishingly small value below the first-order transition at TN, as observed experimentally.