α-Cu2V2O7 is one of a rare example of antiferromagnets that exhibit the bidirectional magnon bands splitting; a property that requires for applications in novel magnonic devices.
α-Cu2V2O7 belongs to the noncentrosymmetric space group Fdd2 with an orthorhombic structure. The point group symmetry, mm2, of α-Cu2V2O7 possesses lower symmetry than the symmetry of its unit cell, hence, it is possible for the coexistence of an inversion domain in this material. The works on α-Cu2V2O7, however, have never clearly shown that the crystal under consisted of single domain. In this work we focused on a Bridgman-grown single crystal X-ray diffraction study of α-Cu2V2O7 in order to reveal its crystallographic domain and also to determine its absolute structure. Our result confirm that the Bridgman-grown α-Cu2V2O7 crystal consists of single domain.
We believe that this work would be a great interest to researchers studying physical properties on α-Cu2V2O7 as it provides necessary informations for understanding ferroelectric and nonreciprocal properties, as well as to the broad community of condensed matter physicists.
(Pharit Piyawongwatthana)
