Nonlinear magnetoelectric effect and magnetostriction in piezoelectric CsCuCl₃ in paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic states

The direct nonlinear magnetoelectric (ME) effect and the magnetostriction of piezoelectric CsCuCl₃ single crystals were comprehensively studied over a wide temperature range in stationary magnetic fields of up to 14 T. The direct nonlinear ME effect measurements were also performed in pulsed magnetic fields up to 31 T, at liquid helium temperature in the antiferromagnetic (AF) state for the crystallographic direction in which effect has the maximum value. The nonlinear ME effect was quadratic in the paramagnetic state for the whole range of magnetic fields. In the AF state the phase transition between different configurations of spins manifested itself as plateau-like peculiarity on the nonlinear ME effect. The nonlinear ME effect was saturated by the phase transition to the spin-saturated paramagnetic state. Two contributions to the nonlinear ME effects in CsCuCl₃ were extracted from the experimental data: the intrinsic ME effect originated from the magnetoelectric interactions, and the extrinsic one, which resulted from a magnetostriction-induced piezoelectric effect