Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 117, Issue 32, Pages 18954-18961Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2007248117
Keywords
ferroelectric; flux-closure domains; manipulation; atomic resolution; in situ (S)TEM
Categories
Funding
- National Key RAMP
- D Program of China [2016YFA0300804, 2016YFA0300903]
- Chinese Academy of Sciences [ZDYZ2015-1, XDB33030200]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [11974023, 51672007, 11875229, 51872251, 21773303, 51991344, 51421002]
- Key RAMP
- D Program of Guangdong Province [2018B030327001, 2018B010109009]
- Bureau of Industry and Information Technology of Shenzhen [201901161512]
- 2011 Program Peking-Tsinghua-IOP Collaborative Innovation Center for Quantum Matter
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The ability to controllably manipulate complex topological polar configurations such as polar flux-closures via external stimuli may allow the construction of new electromechanical and nanoelectronic devices. Here, using atomically resolved in situ scanning transmission electron microscopy, we find that the polar flux-closures in PbTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattice films are mobile and can be reversibly switched to ordinary single ferroelectric c or a domains under an applied electric field or stress. Specifically, the electric field initially drives movement of a flux-closure via domain wall motion and then breaks it to form intermediate a/c striped domains, whereas mechanical stress first squeezes the core of a flux-closure toward the interface and then form a/c domains with disappearance of the core. After removal of the external stimulus, the flux-closure structure spontaneously recovers. These observations can be precisely reproduced by phase field simulations, which also reveal the evolutions of the competing energies during phase transitions. Such reversible switching between flux-closures and ordinary ferroelectric states provides a foundation for potential electromechanical and nanoelectronic applications.
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