Evidence for magnetic correlation in the paramagnetic phase of DyMn2O5

The magnetodielectric response of multiferroic DyMn2O5 is investigated as a function of temperature (T) and magnetic field (H) to map out a complete T-H phase diagram over a wide range of temperature. Our fundamental discovery is the observation of a new dielectric excitation slightly above Néel temperature (TN), which is associated to an unusual short range magnetic correlations. This new feature is also supported by the softening of phonons observed above TN by infrared and Raman spectroscopy as reported previously. This fundamental finding opens a new horizon to further explore the magnetodielectric response of the family of RMn2O5.