Polarization transfer force on ferroelectric domain walls

TL;DR

This paper explores how polarization currents and nonlinear polarization waves influence ferroelectric domain wall motion, revealing a novel negative radiation pressure mechanism that enables efficient control of domain walls for memory and logic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a new polarization transfer force mechanism on ferroelectric domain walls driven by nonlinear polarization waves, distinct from magnonic effects.

Findings

Polarization waves are fully transmitted in the linear regime, exerting no net force.

Intrinsic nonlinearities induce a negative radiation pressure on domain walls.

This mechanism enables efficient domain wall control via optical and thermal stimuli.

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of ferroelectric textures driven by polarization currents. We show that, ferrons, the quanta of collective polarization excitations, provide an exotic driving mechanism for domain wall (DW) dynamics, compared with their magnonic counterparts. By mapping the linear polarization dynamics of a DW onto a Schr\"{o}dinger-like problem with a P\"{o}schl-Teller potential, we show that polarization waves are fully transmitted and therefore do not exert a net force on the DW in the linear regime. However, intrinsic nonlinearities give rise to a negative radiation pressure that pulls the DW toward the source. This mechanism allows efficient DW control by optical excitation and temperature gradients with application potential in ferroelectric memory and logic devices.