Dynamical manipulation of polar topologies from acoustic phonon pumping

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel method to dynamically manipulate polar topologies in materials by using acoustic phonon pumping, offering a new approach to control polar textures beyond optical methods.

Contribution

It introduces acoustic phonon pumping as an effective way to tailor polar topologies, expanding the toolkit for manipulating polar textures in ferroelectric materials.

Findings

Acoustic phonon pumping can induce various polar topologies.

The method enables deterministic and dynamical control of polar textures.

Strong coupling between polarization and strain facilitates this control.

Abstract

Since the recent discovery of polar topologies, a recurrent question has been in the way to remotely tune them. Many efforts have focused on the pumping of polar optical phonons from optical methods but with limited success, as only switching between specific phases has been achieved so far. Additionally, the correlation between optical pulse characteristics and the resulting phase remains poorly understood. Here, we propose an alternative approach and demonstrate the deterministic and dynamical tailoring of polar topologies using instead acoustic phonon pumping. Our second-principles simulations reveal that by pumping specific longitudinal and transverse acoustic phonons, various topological textures can be induced in materials like BaTiO$_\mathrm{3}$ or PbTiO$_\mathrm{3}$. This method leverages the strong coupling between polarization and strain in these materials, enabling predictable and dynamical control of polar patterns. Our findings open up an alternative possibility for the manipulation of polar textures, inaugurating a promising research direction.