Probing the Origin of Large Magnetic Field coupled Electric Polarization in the RAl$_{3}$(BO$_{3}$)$_{4}$ system

The multiferroic system RAl$_{3}$(BO$_{3})_{4}$ (R$=$rare earth) is known to exhibit a strong coupling of the magnetic field to the electrical polarization. To understand the origin of this behavior, detailed structural studies on single crystals and powders derived from crystals were conducted. The structure as a function of temperature, magnetic field and pressure was explored. The results are compared with magnetic field dependent electric polarization and heat capacity measurements. This work is supported by DOE Grants DE-FG02-07ER46402 (NJIT).