Thermally Configurable Multi-Order Polar Skyrmions in Multiferroic Oxide Superlattices

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a thermal strategy to stabilize and reversibly tune multi-order polar skyrmions in multiferroic oxide superlattices, revealing new topological states and enabling room-temperature applications.

Contribution

It introduces a thermal-modulation approach to stabilize and control high-order polar skyrmions, expanding the understanding of topological textures in multiferroic materials.

Findings

Thermal modulation stabilizes multi-order polar skyrmions.

Room-temperature stabilization achieved with Sm doping.

Identified the thermal stability window for 2π-skyrmions.

Abstract

Polar topological textures in low-dimensional ferroelectrics have emerged as a versatile platform for high-density information storage and neuromorphic computing. While low-order topological states, such as vortices and skyrmions, have been extensively studied, high-order polar topological families remain largely unexplored due to their higher energy requirements and limited stabilization methods. Here, using a BiFeO3 (BFO)-based multiferroic superlattice as a model system, we demonstrate a thermal-modulation strategy that stabilizes multi-order polar skyrmions and enables reversible tuning of their topological order through phase-field simulations. It was found that temperature modulation drives the system from polar solitons through 1{\pi}-, 2{\pi}-, 3{\pi}-, and 4{\pi}-skyrmion states, with closed heating-cooling path analyses revealing the widest thermal stability window for 2{\pi}-skyrmions (up to 600 K). Leveraging this robustness, 2% Sm doping in BFO lowers the transition temperatures, enabling room-temperature stabilization of 2{\pi}-skyrmions. These findings enrich the fundamental understanding of multi-order polar topologies and establish a tunable strategy for realizing variable-order topological configurations in practical memory devices.