Stable antivortices in multiferroic ε-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> with the coalescence of misaligned grains.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39762273.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-55841-x and PMC identifier 11704318.
- 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
Antivortices have potential applications in future nano-functional devices, yet the formation of isolated antivortices traditionally requires nanoscale dimensions and near-zero magnetocrystalline anisotropy, limiting their broader application. Here, we propose an approach to forming antivortices in multiferroic ε-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> with the coalescence of misaligned grains. By leveraging misaligned crystal domains, the large magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy is counterbalanced, thereby stabilizing the ground state of the antivortex. This method overcomes the traditional difficulty of observing isolated antivortices in micron-sized samples. Stable isolated antivortices were observed in truncated triangular multiferroic ε-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> polycrystals ranging from 2.9 to 16.7 µm. Furthermore, the unpredictability of the polarity of the core was utilized as a source of entropy for designing physically unclonable functions. Our findings expand the range of antivortex materials into the multiferroic perovskite oxides and provide a potential opportunity for ferroelectric polarization control of antivortices.