Observation of room-temperature polar skyrmions

S. Das; Y. L. Tang; Z. Hong; M. A.P. Gonçalves; M. R. McCarter; C. Klewe; K. X. Nguyen; F. Gómez-Ortiz; P. Shafer; E. Arenholz; V. A. Stoica; S. L. Hsu; B. Wang; C. Ophus; J. F. Liu; C. T. Nelson; S. Saremi; B. Prasad; A. B. Mei; D. G. Schlom; J. Íñiguez; P. García-Fernández; D. A. Muller; L. Q. Chen; J. Junquera; L. W. Martin; R. Ramesh

doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1092-8

Observation of room-temperature polar skyrmions

S. Das, Y. L. Tang, Z. Hong, M. A.P. Gonçalves, M. R. McCarter, C. Klewe, K. X. Nguyen, F. Gómez-Ortiz, P. Shafer, E. Arenholz, V. A. Stoica, S. L. Hsu, B. Wang, C. Ophus, J. F. Liu, C. T. Nelson, S. Saremi, B. Prasad, A. B. Mei, D. G. SchlomJ. Íñiguez, P. García-Fernández, D. A. Muller, L. Q. Chen, J. Junquera, L. W. Martin, R. Ramesh

electron Microscopy and Microanalysis

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484 Scopus citations

Abstract

Complex topological configurations are fertile ground for exploring emergent phenomena and exotic phases in condensed-matter physics. For example, the recent discovery of polarization vortices and their associated complex-phase coexistence and response under applied electric fields in superlattices of (PbTiO₃)_n/(SrTiO₃)_n suggests the presence of a complex, multi-dimensional system capable of interesting physical responses, such as chirality, negative capacitance and large piezo-electric responses^1–3. Here, by varying epitaxial constraints, we discover room-temperature polar-skyrmion bubbles in a lead titanate layer confined by strontium titanate layers, which are imaged by atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. Phase-field modelling and second-principles calculations reveal that the polar-skyrmion bubbles have a skyrmion number of +1, and resonant soft-X-ray diffraction experiments show circular dichroism, confirming chirality. Such nanometre-scale polar-skyrmion bubbles are the electric analogues of magnetic skyrmions, and could contribute to the advancement of ferroelectrics towards functionalities incorporating emergent chirality and electrically controllable negative capacitance.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	368-372
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature
Volume	568
Issue number	7752
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1092-8
State	Published - Apr 18 2019

Funding

Acknowledgements S.D. acknowledges support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s EPiQS Initiative, under grant GBMF5307. Funding for the synthesis and characterization work (to A.B.M., D.G.S. and R.R.) was also provided by the Army Research Office under grant W911NF-16-1-0315. Y.L.T. and R.R. acknowledge support by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, under contract number DE-AC02-05-CH11231 (Quantum Materials program KC2202) for detailed polarization vector analysis. M.R.M. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant number DGE-1106400. M.A.P.G. and J.Í. are funded by the Luxembourg National Research Fund through the CORE programme (grant FNR/C15/MS/10458889 NEWALLS). Z.H. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (DMR-1210588). F.G.-O., P.G.-F. and J.J. acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through grant number FIS2015-64886-C5-2-P, and P.G.-F. acknowledges support from Ramón y Cajal grant number RyC-2013-12515. L.Q.C. is supported by the US DOE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under award FG02-07ER46417. V.A.S. acknowledges support from the US DOE, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under award number DE-SC-0012375. M.R.M. and S.D. acknowledges use of the Advanced Photon Source, which was supported by the US DOE, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Science (DE-AC02-06CH11357), for the synchrotron-based reciprocal space map studies of samples at the Sector 33-BM-C and 7-ID-C beamline. This research used resources of the Advanced Light Source, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility, under contract number DE-AC02-05CH11231. L.W.M. acknowledges support from the US DOE, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under award number DE-SC-0012375 for the development of novel ferroic heterostructures. Electron microscopy of superlattice structures was performed at the Molecular Foundry, LBNL, supported by the Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, US DOE (DE-AC02-05CH11231). STEM and phase-field analysis and visualization performed by C.T.N. was supported by the US DOE, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. EMPAD-STEM polar mapping at the Cornell Center for Materials Research was funded by the US DOE, grant DE-SC0002334. The Cornell EM Facility is supported by the Cornell Center for Materials Research through the National Science Foundation MRSEC programme, award #DMR DMR-1719875.

Funders	Funder number
DOE Office of Science
Luxembourg National Research Fund	DMR-1210588, FNR/C15/MS/10458889 NEWALLS
National Science Foundation MRSEC	DMR-1719875
Office of Basic Energy Science	DE-AC02-06CH11357
Office of Basic Energy Sciences
Ramón y Cajal	RyC-2013-12515
Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness	FIS2015-64886-C5-2-P
National Science Foundation	1719875, DGE-1106400
National Science Foundation
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-SC-0012375, FG02-07ER46417
U.S. Department of Energy
Army Research Office	W911NF-16-1-0315
Army Research Office
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation	GBMF5307
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Office of Science
Basic Energy Sciences	DE-SC0002334
Basic Energy Sciences
Cornell Center for Materials Research
Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering	DE-AC02-05-CH11231, KC2202
Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering

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Das, S., Tang, Y. L., Hong, Z., Gonçalves, M. A. P., McCarter, M. R., Klewe, C., Nguyen, K. X., Gómez-Ortiz, F., Shafer, P., Arenholz, E., Stoica, V. A., Hsu, S. L., Wang, B., Ophus, C., Liu, J. F., Nelson, C. T., Saremi, S., Prasad, B., Mei, A. B., ... Ramesh, R. (2019). Observation of room-temperature polar skyrmions. Nature, 568(7752), 368-372. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1092-8

@article{39b27145355549a5b674df0d11b9e314,

title = "Observation of room-temperature polar skyrmions",

abstract = "Complex topological configurations are fertile ground for exploring emergent phenomena and exotic phases in condensed-matter physics. For example, the recent discovery of polarization vortices and their associated complex-phase coexistence and response under applied electric fields in superlattices of (PbTiO3)n/(SrTiO3)n suggests the presence of a complex, multi-dimensional system capable of interesting physical responses, such as chirality, negative capacitance and large piezo-electric responses1–3. Here, by varying epitaxial constraints, we discover room-temperature polar-skyrmion bubbles in a lead titanate layer confined by strontium titanate layers, which are imaged by atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. Phase-field modelling and second-principles calculations reveal that the polar-skyrmion bubbles have a skyrmion number of +1, and resonant soft-X-ray diffraction experiments show circular dichroism, confirming chirality. Such nanometre-scale polar-skyrmion bubbles are the electric analogues of magnetic skyrmions, and could contribute to the advancement of ferroelectrics towards functionalities incorporating emergent chirality and electrically controllable negative capacitance.",

author = "S. Das and Tang, {Y. L.} and Z. Hong and Gon{\c c}alves, {M. A.P.} and McCarter, {M. R.} and C. Klewe and Nguyen, {K. X.} and F. G{\'o}mez-Ortiz and P. Shafer and E. Arenholz and Stoica, {V. A.} and Hsu, {S. L.} and B. Wang and C. Ophus and Liu, {J. F.} and Nelson, {C. T.} and S. Saremi and B. Prasad and Mei, {A. B.} and Schlom, {D. G.} and J. {\'I}{\~n}iguez and P. Garc{\'i}a-Fern{\'a}ndez and Muller, {D. A.} and Chen, {L. Q.} and J. Junquera and Martin, {L. W.} and R. Ramesh",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

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doi = "10.1038/s41586-019-1092-8",

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Das, S, Tang, YL, Hong, Z, Gonçalves, MAP, McCarter, MR, Klewe, C, Nguyen, KX, Gómez-Ortiz, F, Shafer, P, Arenholz, E, Stoica, VA, Hsu, SL, Wang, B, Ophus, C, Liu, JF, Nelson, CT, Saremi, S, Prasad, B, Mei, AB, Schlom, DG, Íñiguez, J, García-Fernández, P, Muller, DA, Chen, LQ, Junquera, J, Martin, LW & Ramesh, R 2019, 'Observation of room-temperature polar skyrmions', Nature, vol. 568, no. 7752, pp. 368-372. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1092-8

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AU - Das, S.

AU - Tang, Y. L.

AU - Hong, Z.

AU - Gonçalves, M. A.P.

AU - McCarter, M. R.

AU - Klewe, C.

AU - Nguyen, K. X.

AU - Gómez-Ortiz, F.

AU - Shafer, P.

AU - Arenholz, E.

AU - Stoica, V. A.

AU - Hsu, S. L.

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AU - Prasad, B.

AU - Mei, A. B.

AU - Schlom, D. G.

AU - Íñiguez, J.

AU - García-Fernández, P.

AU - Muller, D. A.

AU - Chen, L. Q.

AU - Junquera, J.

AU - Martin, L. W.

AU - Ramesh, R.

PY - 2019/4/18

Y1 - 2019/4/18

N2 - Complex topological configurations are fertile ground for exploring emergent phenomena and exotic phases in condensed-matter physics. For example, the recent discovery of polarization vortices and their associated complex-phase coexistence and response under applied electric fields in superlattices of (PbTiO3)n/(SrTiO3)n suggests the presence of a complex, multi-dimensional system capable of interesting physical responses, such as chirality, negative capacitance and large piezo-electric responses1–3. Here, by varying epitaxial constraints, we discover room-temperature polar-skyrmion bubbles in a lead titanate layer confined by strontium titanate layers, which are imaged by atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. Phase-field modelling and second-principles calculations reveal that the polar-skyrmion bubbles have a skyrmion number of +1, and resonant soft-X-ray diffraction experiments show circular dichroism, confirming chirality. Such nanometre-scale polar-skyrmion bubbles are the electric analogues of magnetic skyrmions, and could contribute to the advancement of ferroelectrics towards functionalities incorporating emergent chirality and electrically controllable negative capacitance.

AB - Complex topological configurations are fertile ground for exploring emergent phenomena and exotic phases in condensed-matter physics. For example, the recent discovery of polarization vortices and their associated complex-phase coexistence and response under applied electric fields in superlattices of (PbTiO3)n/(SrTiO3)n suggests the presence of a complex, multi-dimensional system capable of interesting physical responses, such as chirality, negative capacitance and large piezo-electric responses1–3. Here, by varying epitaxial constraints, we discover room-temperature polar-skyrmion bubbles in a lead titanate layer confined by strontium titanate layers, which are imaged by atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. Phase-field modelling and second-principles calculations reveal that the polar-skyrmion bubbles have a skyrmion number of +1, and resonant soft-X-ray diffraction experiments show circular dichroism, confirming chirality. Such nanometre-scale polar-skyrmion bubbles are the electric analogues of magnetic skyrmions, and could contribute to the advancement of ferroelectrics towards functionalities incorporating emergent chirality and electrically controllable negative capacitance.

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Observation of room-temperature polar skyrmions

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