MAGNETOELECTRIC RESPONSE OF THE SPIN-PEIERLS COMPOUND CUGEO3

The effect of an electric field on the magnetic susceptibility in a pu re CuGeO3 single crystal at microwave frequencies is investigated. A q uadratic effect of the electric field on the magnetic susceptibility, which increases with decreasing temperature, is observed in the spin-P eierls state at temperatures below 5 K. The observed effect is tentati vely attributed to residual magnetism, due to distortions of the regul ar dimerized structure at domain walls with different values of the di merization phase, and to the effect of the electric field on the inter chain exchange interaction. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.