Piezomagnetism

Piezomagnetism is a phenomenon observed in some antiferromagnetic crystals. It is characterised by a linear coupling between the system's magnetic polarisation and mechanical strain. In a piezomagnetic, one may induce a spontaneous magnetic moment by applying physical stress, or a physical deformation by applying a magnetic field.

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Piezomagnetism differs from the related property of magnetostriction; if an applied magnetic field is reversed in direction, the strain produced changes sense. Additionally, a non-zero piezomagnetic moment can be produced by mechanical strain alone, at zero field - this is not true of magnetostriction. ^[1]

The piezomagnetic effect is made possible by an absence of certain symmetry elements in a crystal structure; specifically, symmetry under inversion of either space or time forbid the property. ^[2]

The first experimental observation of piezomagnetism was made in 1960, in the fluorides of cobalt and manganese. ^[3]

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