Revealing buried ferroelectric topologies by depth-resolved electron diffraction imaging.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 42230609.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-73823-5.
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Abstract
Nanoscale topological polar textures promise new functionalities for ferroelectric memories and logic, yet their three-dimensional structure and mesoscale organization remain experimentally inaccessible. Here we introduce depth-resolved electron diffraction imaging (DREDI), a fast, non-destructive, method that maps polarization with <50 nm lateral and <10 nm depth sensitivity within fraction of a second. Its high acquisition speed enables the first continuous polarization mapping across six orders of magnitude in length scale, from nanometers to millimeters. Using epitaxial BiFeO<sub>3</sub> films, DREDI reveals a hidden depth evolution of polar textures: surface 71˚ stripes evolve into subsurface flux-closure vortices that bifurcate into three-fold vertices near the bottom interface. Cross-sectional multi-slice electron ptychography and phase-field modeling confirm these buried configurations and attribute them to strain heterogeneity and ferroelastic twinning in the SrRuO<sub>3</sub> electrode. Large-area analysis further shows that vertex-like frustration forms a mesoscale percolating network above a critical length scale of 4 µm. DREDI enables real-time, volumetric studies of buried topological textures in ferroic nanomaterials.