Monte Carlo approach to phase transitions in ferroelectromagnets

Abstract
A Monte Carlo algorithm based on the hybrid Ising-DIFFOUR model is proposed to investigate the phase transition in ferroelectromagnetic lattice in which the ferroelectric order and antiferromagnetic order coexist below a certain temperature. The Ising spin moment and ferroelectric displacement and their susceptibilities as well, as a function of temperature for systems of different magnetoelectric couplings, are simulated and compared with the mean-field approach. The typical antiferromagnetic transition at Néel point and the ferroelectric transition at Curie point are observed at zero coupling. It is demonstrated that a weak ferromagnetic order can be activated by introducing the magnetoelectric coupling or applying external magnetic field, while the external electric field has little effect on the ferromagnetic ordering behavior.