Antisite disorder-driven large electric polarization in multiferroic Nd₂CoMnO₆

The discovery of magnetism-driven ferroelectricity has recently given new hope for multiferroic devices, but very low magnetic ordering temperature as well as negligibly small electric polarization in these systems are still a challenge. Here, we report a new collinear magnetic multiferroic, Nd₂CoMnO₆ (T_C ∼ 150 K) with a spontaneous electric polarization, P_S≃ 1.3 ΜC cm^-2, much higher than the other known magnetic multiferroics. The high polarization value has been associated to the intrinsic ↑↑↓↓ spin ordering-driven broken symmetry and the high degree of antisite disorder present in the system, which are confirmed through dc magnetization measurements.