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Title: Observation of polar vortices in oxide superlattices

Abstract

The complex interplay of spin, charge, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom provides a plethora of exotic phases and physical phenomena. In recent years, complex spin topologies have emerged as a consequence of the electronic band structure and the interplay between spin and spin-orbit coupling in materials. Here we produce complex topologies of electrical polarization-namely, nanometre-scale vortex-antivortex (that is, clockwise-anticlockwise) arrays that are reminiscent of rotational spin topologies-by making use of the competition between charge, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom in superlattices of alternating lead titanate and strontium titanate layers. Atomic-scale mapping of the polar atomic displacements by scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals the presence of long-range ordered vortex-antivortex arrays that exhibit nearly continuous polarization rotation. Phase-field modelling confirms that the vortex array is the low-energy state for a range of superlattice periods. Within this range, the large gradient energy from the vortex structure is counterbalanced by the corresponding large reduction in overall electrostatic energy (which would otherwise arise from polar discontinuities at the lead titanate/strontium titanate interfaces) and the elastic energy associated with epitaxial constraints and domain formation. These observations have implications for the creation of new states of matter (such as dipolar skyrmions, hedgehog states) and associatedmore » phenomena in ferroic materials, such as electrically controllable chirality.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [5];  [5];  [3];  [3];  [6];  [1];  [2];  [7];  [1];  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
  3. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  4. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
  5. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  6. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  7. Univ. of St. Andrews, Scotland (United Kingdom)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1530227
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nature (London)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Nature (London); Journal Volume: 530; Journal Issue: 7589; Journal ID: ISSN 0028-0836
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Citation Formats

Yadav, A. K., Nelson, C. T., Hsu, S. L., Hong, Z., Clarkson, J. D., Schlepütz, C. M., Damodaran, A. R., Shafer, P., Arenholz, E., Dedon, L. R., Chen, D., Vishwanath, A., Minor, A. M., Chen, L. Q., Scott, J. F., Martin, L. W., and Ramesh, R. Observation of polar vortices in oxide superlattices. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1038/nature16463.
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Yadav, A. K., Nelson, C. T., Hsu, S. L., Hong, Z., Clarkson, J. D., Schlepütz, C. M., Damodaran, A. R., Shafer, P., Arenholz, E., Dedon, L. R., Chen, D., Vishwanath, A., Minor, A. M., Chen, L. Q., Scott, J. F., Martin, L. W., & Ramesh, R. Observation of polar vortices in oxide superlattices. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16463
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Yadav, A. K., Nelson, C. T., Hsu, S. L., Hong, Z., Clarkson, J. D., Schlepütz, C. M., Damodaran, A. R., Shafer, P., Arenholz, E., Dedon, L. R., Chen, D., Vishwanath, A., Minor, A. M., Chen, L. Q., Scott, J. F., Martin, L. W., and Ramesh, R. Wed . "Observation of polar vortices in oxide superlattices". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16463. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1530227.
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@article{osti_1530227,
title = {Observation of polar vortices in oxide superlattices},
author = {Yadav, A. K. and Nelson, C. T. and Hsu, S. L. and Hong, Z. and Clarkson, J. D. and Schlepütz, C. M. and Damodaran, A. R. and Shafer, P. and Arenholz, E. and Dedon, L. R. and Chen, D. and Vishwanath, A. and Minor, A. M. and Chen, L. Q. and Scott, J. F. and Martin, L. W. and Ramesh, R.},
abstractNote = {The complex interplay of spin, charge, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom provides a plethora of exotic phases and physical phenomena. In recent years, complex spin topologies have emerged as a consequence of the electronic band structure and the interplay between spin and spin-orbit coupling in materials. Here we produce complex topologies of electrical polarization-namely, nanometre-scale vortex-antivortex (that is, clockwise-anticlockwise) arrays that are reminiscent of rotational spin topologies-by making use of the competition between charge, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom in superlattices of alternating lead titanate and strontium titanate layers. Atomic-scale mapping of the polar atomic displacements by scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals the presence of long-range ordered vortex-antivortex arrays that exhibit nearly continuous polarization rotation. Phase-field modelling confirms that the vortex array is the low-energy state for a range of superlattice periods. Within this range, the large gradient energy from the vortex structure is counterbalanced by the corresponding large reduction in overall electrostatic energy (which would otherwise arise from polar discontinuities at the lead titanate/strontium titanate interfaces) and the elastic energy associated with epitaxial constraints and domain formation. These observations have implications for the creation of new states of matter (such as dipolar skyrmions, hedgehog states) and associated phenomena in ferroic materials, such as electrically controllable chirality.},
doi = {10.1038/nature16463},
journal = {Nature (London)},
number = 7589,
volume = 530,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jan 27 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Wed Jan 27 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}
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