Switchable polar spirals in tricolor oxide superlattices

Hong, Zijian; Chen, Long-Qing

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2018.10.053

Title: Switchable polar spirals in tricolor oxide superlattices

Journal Article · Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2019 · Acta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2018.10.053· OSTI ID:1609863

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Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

There are increasing evidences that ferroelectric states at the nanoscale can exhibit fascinating topological structures including polar vortices and skyrmions, akin to those observed in the ferromagnetic systems. Here we report the discovery of a new type of polar topological structure, an ordered array of nanoscale spirals, in the PbTiO₃/BiFeO₃/SrTiO₃ tricolor ferroelectric superlattice system obtained via phase-field simulations. This polar spiral structure is composed of fine ordered semi-vortex arrays with vortex cores forming a wavy distribution. It is demonstrated that the tricolor system has an ultrahigh Curie temperature of ~1000 K and a temperature of ~800 K for the phase transformation from spiral structure to in-plane orthorhombic domain structure, demonstrating a great thermal stability. The periodicity phase-diagram is constructed, showing multiple phases from inplane domain, polar spiral, and polar vortex to flux-closure with increasing ferroelectric layer thickness. Moreover, the spiral structure has a net in-plane polarization that could be switched by an experimentally-feasible irrotational in-plane field. The switching process involves a metastable vortex state and is fully reversible. This discovery could open up a new routine to design novel multiferroic topological structures with enhanced stability and tunability towards potential future applications in next-generation electronics.

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Research Organization:: Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-07ER46417

OSTI ID:: 1609863

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1755448

Journal Information:: Acta Materialia, Vol. 164, Issue C; ISSN 1359-6454

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 14 works

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