Nanoscale bubble domains with polar topologies in bulk ferroelectrics.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 34131138.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-23863-w and PMC identifier 8206216.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Multitudinous topological configurations spawn oases of many physical properties and phenomena in condensed-matter physics. Nano-sized ferroelectric bubble domains with various polar topologies (e.g., vortices, skyrmions) achieved in ferroelectric films present great potential for valuable physical properties. However, experimentally manipulating bubble domains has remained elusive especially in the bulk form. Here, in any bulk material, we achieve self-confined bubble domains with multiple polar topologies in bulk Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 ferroelectrics, especially skyrmions, as validated by direct Z-contrast imaging. This phenomenon is driven by the interplay of bulk, elastic and electrostatic energies of coexisting modulated phases with strong and weak spontaneous polarizations. We demonstrate reversable and tip-voltage magnitude/time-dependent donut-like domain morphology evolution towards continuously and reversibly modulated high-density nonvolatile ferroelectric memories.