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The chemistry of magnetoelectric multiferroics

Nature Reviews Chemistry (2026) Cite this article

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Abstract

The development of magnetoelectric multiferroic materials, which combine and couple (ferro)magnetism and ferroelectricity in the same material, are discussed from a chemist’s perspective. The chemical challenges that must be overcome to combine (ferro)magnetism and ferroelectricity are highlighted and the developments in crystal chemistry that have enabled identification of new multiferroics are outlined. The chemical applications of multiferroic materials are described and open questions that are particularly amenable to chemical solutions are discussed.

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Fig. 1: Multiferroics from a combined dipoles perspective.
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Fig. 2: Multiferroics from an orbital perspective.
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Fig. 3: Examples of the most established multiferroic crystal chemistries and schematics of the corresponding mechanisms leading to ferroelectricity.
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Fig. 4: Expanding the known families of multiferroics.
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Acknowledgements

N.A.S. thanks the Miller Institute at UC Berkeley for sabbatical support and the Swiss National Science Foundation, project number TMAG-2 225790 Static and Dynamic Crystal Chirality for funding.

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  1. Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Nicola A. Spaldin

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Spaldin, N.A. The chemistry of magnetoelectric multiferroics. Nat Rev Chem (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-026-00827-6

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