BaFe(2)Se(3) a high T(C) magnetic multiferroic with large ferrielectric polarization.

The iron selenides are important because of their superconducting properties. Here, an unexpected phenomenon is predicted to occur in an iron-selenide compound with a quasi-one-dimensional ladder geometry: BaFe(2)Se(3) should be a magnetic ferrielectric system, driven by its magnetic block order via exchange striction. A robust performance (high T(C) and large polarization) is expected. Different from most multiferroics, BaFe(2)Se(3) is ferrielectric, with a polarization that mostly cancels between ladders. However, its strong magnetostriction still produces a net polarization that is large (∼0.1  μC/cm(2)) as compared with most magnetic multiferroics. Its fully ferroelectric state, with energy only slightly higher than the ferrielectric, has a giant improper polarization ∼2-3  μC/cm(2).