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- Title
Ferroelectric solitons crafted in epitaxial bismuth ferrite superlattices.
- Authors
Govinden, Vivasha; Tong, Peiran; Guo, Xiangwei; Zhang, Qi; Mantri, Sukriti; Seyfouri, Mohammad Moein; Prokhorenko, Sergei; Nahas, Yousra; Wu, Yongjun; Bellaiche, Laurent; Sun, Tulai; Tian, He; Hong, Zijian; Valanoor, Nagarajan; Sando, Daniel
- Abstract
In ferroelectrics, complex interactions among various degrees of freedom enable the condensation of topologically protected polarization textures. Known as ferroelectric solitons, these particle-like structures represent a new class of materials with promise for beyond-CMOS technologies due to their ultrafine size and sensitivity to external stimuli. Such polarization textures have scarcely been demonstrated in multiferroics. Here, we present evidence for ferroelectric solitons in (BiFeO3)/(SrTiO3) superlattices. High-resolution piezoresponse force microscopy and Cs-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy reveal a zoo of topologies, and polarization displacement mapping of planar specimens reveals center-convergent/divergent topological defects as small as 3 nm. Phase-field simulations verify that some of these structures can be classed as bimerons with a topological charge of ±1, and first-principles-based effective Hamiltonian computations show that the coexistence of such structures can lead to non-integer topological charges, a first observation in a BiFeO3-based system. Our results open new opportunities in multiferroic topotronics. Topological structures could spark promising functionalities in next generation nanoelectronics. Here, the authors report the realization of complex topological polar textures in epitaxial multiferroic BiFeO3 –SrTiO3 superlattices induced by competing electrical and mechanical boundary conditions.
- Subjects
BISMUTH iron oxide; PIEZORESPONSE force microscopy; SCANNING transmission electron microscopy; SOLITONS; SUPERLATTICES; ELECTRICAL steel; DEGREES of freedom
- Publication
Nature Communications, 2023, Vol 14, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2041-1723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41467-023-39841-3