Phys.org July 26, 2023
Ferroelectric solitons represent a new class of materials with promise for beyond-CMOS technologies due to their ultrafine size and sensitivity to external stimuli. Such polarization textures have scarcely been demonstrated in multiferroics. Using a special arrangement an international team of researchers (Australia, USA – University of Arkansas) presented evidence of solitons in bismuth ferrite and strontium titanate superlattice. High-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy revealed a zoo of topologies, and polarization displacement mapping of planar specimens revealed center-convergent/divergent topological defects as small as 3 nm. Phase-field simulations verified that some of these structures could be classed as bimerons with a topological charge of ±1. Hamiltonian computations showed that the coexistence of such structures could lead to non-integer topological charges. According to the researchers their results opened new opportunities in multiferroic topotronics… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Observation of ferroelectric solitons in BFO/STO superlattices. Credit: Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 4178 (2023)Â