Confinement-driven inverse domain scaling in polycrystalline ErMnO3

TL;DR

This paper investigates how topologically protected vortices influence domain formation in ErMnO3 polycrystals, revealing an unusual inverse domain scaling behavior that could enable new ferroelectric device engineering strategies.

Contribution

It demonstrates a novel inverse domain scaling behavior driven by topological vortices in ErMnO3, contrasting with classical ferroelectrics and opening new avenues for topology-based domain control.

Findings

Smaller domains form with increasing grain size due to vortex interactions.

Inverted domain scaling behavior differs from classical ferroelectrics.

Implications for topology-based ferroelectric device engineering.

Abstract

The research on topological phenomena in ferroelectric materials has revolutionized the way we understand polar order. Intriguing examples are polar skyrmions, vortex/anti-vortex structures and ferroelectric incommensurabilties, which promote emergent physical properties ranging from electric-field-controllable chirality to negative capacitance effects. Here, we study the impact of topologically protected vortices on the domain formation in improper ferroelectric ErMnO3 polycrystals, demonstrating inverted domain scaling behavior compared to classical ferroelectrics. We observe that as the grain size increases, smaller domains are formed, which we relate to the interaction of the topological vortices with local strain fields. The inversion of the domain scaling behavior has far-reaching implications, providing fundamentally new opportunities for topology-based domain engineering and the tuning of the electromechanical and dielectric performance of ferroelectrics in general.