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Incommensurate Orbital Modulation in Multiferroic CuFeO2

CuFeO_2 is one of the multiferroic materials and is the first case that the electric polarization is not explained by the magnetostriction model or the spin-current model. We have studied this material using soft x-ray resonant diffraction and found that superlattice reflection 0, 1 - 2q, 0 appears in the ferroelectric and incommensurate magnetic ordered phase at the Fe L2,3 absorption edges and moreover that the rotation of the x-ray polarization such as from σ to π or from π to σ is allowed at this reflection. These findings definitely provide direct evidence that the 3d orbital state of Fe ions has a long range order in the ferroelectric state and support the spin-dependent d-p hybridization mechanism.