Phys.org  October 7, 2024 Hierarchical assemblies of ferroelectric nanodomains can exhibit exotic morphologies that lead to distinct behaviours. Controlling these super-domains reliably is critical for realizing states with desired functional properties. A team of researchers in the US (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Texas at Arlington, UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Rice University) described the super-switching mechanism by using a biased atomic force microscopy tip of a model ferroelectric Pb0.6Sr0.4TiO3. They demonstrated that the writing process was dominated by a super-domain nucleation and stabilization process. A complex scanning-probe trajectory enabled on-demand formation of intricate centre-divergent, centre-convergent and flux-closure […]