Related papers: Collective magnetism at multiferroic vortex domain…
Multiferroic hexagonal RMnO3 (R=rare earths) crystals exhibit dense networks of vortex lines at which six domain walls merge. While the domain walls can be readily moved with an applied electric field, the vortex cores were so far…
Topological defects in ordered states with spontaneously broken symmetry often have unusual physical properties, such as fractional electric charge or a quantised magnetic field-flux, originating from their non-trivial topology. Coupled…
Emergent topological phenomena in multiferroic materials arise from the intricate coupling between structural, electric, and magnetic order parameters. Hexagonal manganites provide a paradigmatic platform for such studies. These compounds…
Structural features of ferroic domains are fundamentally important for the understanding of microstructure and physical properties of ferroic materials, and they are also of technological significance for information storage and electronic…
As the result of the high-temperature improper ferroelectric transition occurring in YMnO3 and other hexagonal manganites a striking domain pattern was observed: an emergence of six domains of alternating polarization from one point in a…
The direct domain coupling of spontaneous ferroelectric polarization and net magnetic moment can result in giant magnetoelectric (ME) coupling, which is essential to achieve mutual control and practical applications of multiferroics.…
Topological materials, including topological insulators, magnets with Skyrmions and ferroelectrics with topological vortices, have recently attracted phenomenal attention in the materials science community. Complex patterns of ferroelectric…
We explore the impact of a magnetic field on the ferroelectric domain pattern in polycrystalline hexagonal ErMnO3 at cryogenic temperatures. Utilizing piezoelectric force microscopy measurements at 1.65 K, we observe modifications of the…
A common scenario of magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroics is the electric polarization induced by spatially modulated spin structures. It is shown in this paper that the same mechanism works in magnetic dielectrics with inhomogeneous…
Charged polar interfaces such as charged ferroelectric domain walls or heterostructured interfaces of ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O and LaAlO3/SrTiO3, across which the normal component of electric polarization changes suddenly, can host large…
When two periodic potentials compete in materials, one may adopt the other, which straightforwardly generates topological defects. Of particular interest are domain walls in charge-, dipole-, and spin-ordered systems, which govern…
Vortices are point-like topological defects in superconductors whose motion dictates superconducting properties and controls device performance. In superconductor-ferromagnet heterostructures, vortices interact with topological defects in…
The dynamics of a multiferroic domain wall in which an electric field can couple to the magnetization via inhomogeneous magnetoelectric interaction is investigated by the collective-coordinate framework. We show how the electric field is…
We provide a simple explanation of complex magnetic patterns observed in ferromagnetic nanostructures. To this end we identify elementary topological defects in the field of magnetization: ordinary vortices in the bulk and vortices with…
The structure of domain walls determines to a large extent the properties of magnetic materials, in particular their hardness and switching behavior, it represents an essential ingredient of spintronics. Common domain walls are of Bloch and…
Domain walls formed by one dimensional array of vortex lines have been recently predicted to exist in disordered helical magnets and multiferroics. These systems are on one hand analogues to the vortex line lattices in type-II…
Field-induced switching of ferroelectric domains with a topological vortex configuration is studied by atomic imaging and electrical biasing in an electron microscope, revealing the role of topological defects on the topologically-guided…
The control of domain walls or spin textures is crucial for spintronic applications of antiferromagnets. Despite many efforts, it has been challenging to directly visualize antiferromagnetic domains or domain walls with nanoscale…
An investigation of the spatially resolved distribution of domains in the multiferroic phase of MnWO$_4$ reveals that characteristic features of magnetic and ferroelectric domains are inseparably entangled. Consequently, the concept of…
In superconductors with three or more components, time-reversal symmetry may be broken when the inter-component couplings are repulsive, leading to a superconducting state with two-fold degeneracy. When prepared carefully there is a stable…