Abstract

Topological structures in ferroic materials have drawn great interest in recent years due to the richness of the underlying physics and the potential for applications in next generation electronics. Recent advances in atomically precise thin-film materials synthesis and characterization of structural/physical phenomena at unprecedented length/energy/time scales have enabled us to study exotic phases and their associated physics [Rößler et al., Nature 442, 797 (2006); S. Das, Nature 568, 368 (2019); Yadav et al., Nature 530, 198 (2016); and Stoica et al., Nat. Mater. 18, 377 (2019)]. It is appropriate that, in the second century of ferroelectrics, some dramatic discoveries are propelling the field into directions heretofore unimaginable. In this review, we explore the recent progress in ferroelectric-oxide superlattices in which researchers can control structure and physical properties through the application of epitaxial strain, layer thickness, temperature, electric field, etc. We provide a discussion of exotic topological structures (e.g., closure domains, vortices, polar skyrmions, and other exotic phases) and associated functionalities in ferroelectric/paraelectric superlattices. We conclude with a brief overview of and prospects for how the field may evolve in the coming years.

Highlights

  • In the hundred years since the original discovery of ferroelectricity in Rochelle salt,[5] numerous significant discoveries and technological manifestations of these materials have been demonstrated.[6]

  • We explore the recent progress in ferroelectric-oxide superlattices in which researchers can control structure and physical properties through the application of epitaxial strain, layer thickness, temperature, electric field, etc

  • The first is the ability of materials synthesis approaches to control and tailor artificially designed materials at the atomic scale, as exemplified by the creation of epitaxial superlattices,[7] the second is the dramatic advancements in ab initio and mesoscale phase-field computational approaches,[8,9] and the third is the emergence of a host of probes using x-rays, electrons, and neutrons and near field techniques that are routinely enabling us to study physical phenomena at the atomic scale at unprecedented length/energy/time scales

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Summary

Introduction

In the hundred years since the original discovery of ferroelectricity in Rochelle salt,[5] numerous significant discoveries and technological manifestations of these materials have been demonstrated.[6].

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