TY - JOUR
KW - Microscopy
KW - Article
KW - Chirality
KW - Bismuth
KW - Discrete element method
KW - Electrical property
KW - Ferrite
KW - Memory
KW - Piezoelectricity
KW - Vorticity
KW - Destruction
KW - Leisure
AU - K.-E Kim
AU - Seongeun Jeong
AU - K Chu
AU - J.H Lee
AU - G.-Y Kim
AU - F Xue
AU - T.Y Koo
AU - L.-Q Chen
AU - S.-Y Choi
AU - Ramamoorthy Ramesh
AU - C.-H Yang
AB - Topological defects in matter behave collectively to form highly non-trivial structures called topological textures that are characterised by conserved quantities such as the winding number. Here we show that an epitaxial ferroelectric square nanoplate of bismuth ferrite subjected to a large strain gradient (as much as 105 m-1) associated with misfit strain relaxation enables five discrete levels for the ferroelectric topological invariant of the entire system because of its peculiar radial quadrant domain texture and its inherent domain wall chirality. The total winding number of the topological texture can be configured from - 1 to 3 by selective non-local electric switching of the quadrant domains. By using angle-resolved piezoresponse force microscopy in conjunction with local winding number analysis, we directly identify the existence of vortices and anti-vortices, observe pair creation and annihilation and manipulate the net number of vortices. Our findings offer a useful concept for multi-level topological defect memory. © 2018 The Author(s).
BT - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-017-02813-5
LA - eng
M1 - 1
N1 - cited By 23
N2 - Topological defects in matter behave collectively to form highly non-trivial structures called topological textures that are characterised by conserved quantities such as the winding number. Here we show that an epitaxial ferroelectric square nanoplate of bismuth ferrite subjected to a large strain gradient (as much as 105 m-1) associated with misfit strain relaxation enables five discrete levels for the ferroelectric topological invariant of the entire system because of its peculiar radial quadrant domain texture and its inherent domain wall chirality. The total winding number of the topological texture can be configured from - 1 to 3 by selective non-local electric switching of the quadrant domains. By using angle-resolved piezoresponse force microscopy in conjunction with local winding number analysis, we directly identify the existence of vortices and anti-vortices, observe pair creation and annihilation and manipulate the net number of vortices. Our findings offer a useful concept for multi-level topological defect memory. © 2018 The Author(s).
PB - Nature Publishing Group
PY - 2018
T2 - Nature Communications
TI - Configurable topological textures in strain graded ferroelectric nanoplates
VL - 9
SN - 20411723
ER -