Related papers: Ultrafast switchable polar and magnetic orders by …
Light-induced sliding ferroelectricity in two-dimensional van der Waals materials enables polarization control via relative layer motion. However, polarization switching occurs on the time scale of shear modes (tens of ps) and requires very…
Resonant absorption of a photon by bound electrons in a solid can promote an electron to another orbital state or transfer it to a neighboring atomic site. Such a transition in a magnetically ordered material could affect the magnetic…
Tuning the properties of materials using external stimuli is crucial for developing versatile smart materials. A strong coupling among order parameters within a single-phase material constitutes a potent foundation for achieving precise…
The dynamic control of novel states of matter beyond thermodynamic equilibrium is a fundamental pursuit in condensed matter physics. Intense terahertz fields have enabled metal-insulator transitions, superconductivity, quantum paraelectric…
Ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials possess spontaneous electric and magnetic order, respectively, which can be switched by the corresponding applied electric and magnetic fields. Multiferroics combine these properties in a single…
Reversible ultrafast switching of surface thermodynamics is highly desirable for hydrogen storage and catalysis yet remains elusive at the nanoscale. Here we demonstrate that photoinduced ferroic-order switching in two-dimensional ionic…
A ferroelectric is a material with a polar structure whose polarity can be reversed by applying an electric field. In metals, the itinerant electrons tend to screen electrostatic forces between ions, helping to explain why polar metals are…
The first switchable electric polarization in metals was recently discovered in bilayer and trilayer WTe2. Strangely, despite the tininess of the ordered polarization, the ferroelectricity survives up to 350 K, rendering the mechanism of…
Recent studies highlight the scientific importance and broad application prospects of two-dimensional (2D) sliding ferroelectrics, which prevalently exhibit vertical polarization with suitable stackings. It is crucial to understand the…
Diverse interlayer tunability of physical properties of two-dimensional layers mostly lies in the covalent-like quasi-bonding that is significant in electronic structures but rather weak for energetics. Such characteristics result in…
Understanding the polarization switching mechanisms at play in ferroelectric materials is crucial for their exploitation in electronic devices. The conventional centrosymmetric reference structure-based mechanism which accounts for…
In metal/oxide heterostructures, rich chemical, electronic, magnetic and mechanical properties can emerge from interfacial chemistry and structure. The possibility to dynamically control interface characteristics with an electric field…
Interfaces can differ from their parent compounds in terms of charge, spin, and orbital orders and are fertile ground for emergent phenomena, strongly correlated physics, and device applications. Here, we discover that ferroelectric order…
Ferroic transition metal oxides, which exhibit spontaneous elastic, electrical, magnetic or toroidal order, exhibit functional properties that find use in ultrastable solid-state memories to sensors and medical imaging technologies. To…
Sliding ferroelectricity in bilayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) offers compelling prospects for next-generation non-volatile memory, yet the atomistic dynamics of electric-field-driven polarization switching remain poorly understood.…
In conventional ferroelectric materials, polarization is an intrinsic property limited by bulk crystallographic structure and symmetry. Recently, it has been demonstrated that polar order can also be accessed using inherently non-polar van…
Exciting atomic oscillations with light is a powerful technique to control the electronic properties of materials, leading to remarkable phenomena such as light-induced superconductivity and ultrafast insulator to metal transitions. Here we…
Coupling different physical properties is a fascinating subject of physics. Already well-known are the multiferroics which show properties of ferroelectrics and magnets. But ferroelectricity by itself also entails the bulk photovoltaic…
The functionality of logic and memory elements in current electronics is based on multi-stability, driven either by manipulating local concentrations of electrons in transistors, or by switching between equivalent states of a material with…
The non-thermal optical control of magnetic order offers a promising route to ultrafast, energy-efficient information technologies. Although optical manipulation of magnetism in metals has been extensively studied, experimentally…