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  • Perspective
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Spherical ferroelectric solitons

Nature Materials volume 22, pages 553–561 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Spherical ferroelectric domains, such as electrical bubbles, polar skyrmion bubbles and hopfions, share a single and unique feature—their homogeneously polarized cores are surrounded by a vortex ring of polarization whose outer shells form a spherical domain boundary. The resulting polar texture, typical of three-dimensional topological solitons, has an entirely new local symmetry characterized by a high polarization and strain gradients. Consequently, spherical domains represent a different material system of their own with emergent properties drastically different from that of their surrounding medium. Examples of new functionalities inherent to spherical domains include chirality, optical response, negative capacitance and giant electromechanical response. These characteristics, particularly given that the domains naturally have an ultrafine scale, offer new opportunities in high-density and low-energy nanoelectronic technologies. This Perspective gives an insight into the complex polar structure and physical origin of these spherical domains, which facilitates the understanding and development of spherical domains for device applications.

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Fig. 1: Topology of divergence-free vector fields.
Fig. 2: Spherical ferroelectric solitons.
Fig. 3: Manipulation of ferroelectric solitons under external stimuli for bubbles (left column) and polar skyrmion bubbles (right column).
Fig. 4: Functional properties of the ferroelectric solitons.

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Acknowledgements

The research at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) was supported by DARPA grant no. HR0011727183-D18AP00010 (TEE Program), partially supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (project number CE170100039) and funded by the Australian Government. Q.Z. acknowledges the support of a Women in FLEET Fellowship. The research at the University of Arkansas is also supported by the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF) grant no. N00014-20-1-2834 from the Department of Defense, award no. DMR-1906383 from the National Science Foundation Q-AMASE-i Program (MonArk NSF Quantum Foundry) and an ARO grant no. W911NF- 21-2-0162 (ETHOS).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Vivasha Govinden, Sergei Prokhorenko.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Vivasha Govinden, Qi Zhang & Nagarajan Valanoor

  2. Physics Department and Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Sergei Prokhorenko, Suyash Rijal, Yousra Nahas & Laurent Bellaiche

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Govinden, V., Prokhorenko, S., Zhang, Q. et al. Spherical ferroelectric solitons. Nat. Mater. 22, 553–561 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-023-01527-y

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