Light-Driven Ultrafast Polarization Manipulation in a Relaxor Ferroelectric

Relaxor ferroelectrics have been intensely studied for decades based on their unique electromechanical responses which arise from local structural heterogeneity involving polar nanoregions or domains. Here, we report first studies of the ultrafast dynamics and reconfigurability of the polarization i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nano letters 2022-12, Vol.22 (23), p.9275-9282
Main Authors: Park, Suji, Wang, Bo, Yang, Tiannan, Kim, Jieun, Saremi, Sahar, Zhao, Wenbo, Guzelturk, Burak, Sood, Aditya, Nyby, Clara, Zajac, Marc, Shen, Xiaozhe, Kozina, Michael, Reid, Alexander H., Weathersby, Stephen, Wang, Xijie, Martin, Lane W., Chen, Long-Qing, Lindenberg, Aaron M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
cations
crystal structure
diffraction
electron diffraction
Electrons
ferroelectrics
NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
polarization
redox reactions
structural dynamics
ultrafast
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Summary:Relaxor ferroelectrics have been intensely studied for decades based on their unique electromechanical responses which arise from local structural heterogeneity involving polar nanoregions or domains. Here, we report first studies of the ultrafast dynamics and reconfigurability of the polarization in freestanding films of the prototypical relaxor 0.68PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3-0.32PbTiO3 (PMN-0.32PT) by probing its atomic-scale response via femtosecond-resolution, electron-scattering approaches. By combining these structural measurements with dynamic phase-field simulations, we show that femtosecond light pulses drive a change in both the magnitude and direction of the polarization vector within polar nanodomains on few-picosecond time scales. This study defines new opportunities for dynamic reconfigurable control of the polarization in nanoscale relaxor ferroelectrics.
ISSN:1530-6984
1530-6992
DOI:10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c02706