Abstract
We investigated the magneto-optical properties of alpha-Fe2O3 in order to understand the interplay between charge and magnetism in a model transition metal oxide. We discovered that hematite appears more red in applied magnetic field than in zero-field conditions, an effect that is amplified by the presence of the spin-flop transition. Analysis of the exciton pattern on the edge of the d-d color band reveals C2 monoclinic symmetry in the high-field phase. These findings advance our understanding of magnetoelectric coupling away from the static limit and motivate spectroscopic work on other iron-based materials under extreme conditions.