Optical control of in-plane domain configuration and domain wall motion in ferroelectric and ferroelastic

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates reversible optical control of in-plane domain walls in ferroelectric BaTiO3 and ferroelastic materials, highlighting flexoelectricity as a key mechanism, which could advance nanoelectronic device applications.

Contribution

It reveals optical control of domain walls in ferroelectric and ferroelastic materials, emphasizing flexoelectricity's role, and suggests ferroelastic materials as potential candidates for nanoelectronics.

Findings

Reversible optical control of domain wall movement in BaTiO3.

In-plane polarized sub-domains can mimic single domain states.

Flexoelectricity is crucial for optical domain control in ferroelastic materials.

Abstract

The sensitivity of ferroelectric domain walls to external stimuli makes them functional entities in nanoelectronic devices. Specifically, optically driven domain reconfiguration with in-plane polarization is advantageous and thus highly sought. Here, we show the existence of in-plane polarized sub-domains imitating a single domain state and reversible optical control of its domain wall movement in a single-crystal of ferroelectric BaTiO3. Similar optical control in the domain configuration of non-polar ferroelastic material indicates long-range ferroelectric polarization is not essential for the optical control of domain wall movement. Instead, flexoelectricity is found to be an essential ingredient for the optical control of the domain configuration and hence, ferroelastic materials would be another possible candidate for nanoelectronic device applications.