Phonon properties of delafossite multiferroic compound CuFeO2. Comparison with CuCrO2

Abstract

The temperature, magnetic field and ion doping dependence of the phonon properties of CuFeO2 are studied on the basis of a microscopic model and using Green’s function technique. The phonon energy decreases with increasing temperature, whereas the phonon damping increases. There is a kink at the phase transition temperature [Formula: see text] which shows the influence of the magnetic field on the phonon properties. The kinks vanish by applying an external magnetic field. By doping of ions with different radius compared to the Fe ion, the phonon energy in CuFeO2 can increase (Ga) or decrease (Sc) with increasing dopant concentration, whereas the damping is always enhanced. The results are compared with those of CuCrO2. Some discrepancies in the literature are discussed. The observed results are in qualitative agreement with the experimental data.