Dynamical multiferroicity features entangled dynamic orders: fluctuating electric dipoles induce magnetization. Hence, the material with paraelectric fluctuations can develop magnetic signatures if dynamically driven. We identify the paraelectric ${\mathrm{KTaO}}_3$ (KTO) as a prime candidate for the observation of the dynamical multiferroicity. We show that when a KTO sample is exposed to a circularly polarized laser pulse, the dynamically induced ionic magnetic moments are of the order of 5% of the nuclear magneton per unit cell. We determine the phonon spectrum using ab initio methods, and we identify $T_{1u}$ as relevant phonon modes that couple to the external field and induce magnetic polarization. We also predict a corresponding electron effect for the dynamically induced magnetic moment, which is enhanced by several orders of magnitude due to the significant mass difference between electron and ionic nucleus.

• Received 12 March 2021
• Revised 9 April 2021
• Accepted 14 April 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.L022011

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Published by the American Physical Society