Atomic scale crystal field mapping of polar vortices in oxide superlattices.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 34725320.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-26476-5 and PMC identifier 8560910.
- 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
Polar vortices in oxide superlattices exhibit complex polarization topologies. Using a combination of electron energy loss near-edge structure analysis, crystal field multiplet theory, and first-principles calculations, we probe the electronic structure within such polar vortices in [(PbTiO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>16</sub>/(SrTiO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>16</sub>] superlattices at the atomic scale. The peaks in Ti [Formula: see text]-edge spectra shift systematically depending on the position of the Ti<sup>4+</sup> cations within the vortices i.e., the direction and magnitude of the local dipole. First-principles computation of the local projected density of states on the Ti [Formula: see text] orbitals, together with the simulated crystal field multiplet spectra derived from first principles are in good agreement with the experiments.