Abstract
The configuration of ferroelectric domains in a plane normal to the direction of ferroelectric polarization in hexagonal ErMnO3 (h-ErMnO3) was investigated using piezoresponse force microscopy and a three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation of the clock model with a third dimensional coupling. Two kinds of patterns, long-range-ordered stripe domains and swirling vortex domains were observed alternatively depending on the crystal’s annealing temperature. From the Monte Carlo simulation, these vortex domain and stripe domain patterns could be understood as the topologies of an intermediate state and the ground state of the h-ErMnO3 crystal, respectively. The detailed electric properties of the polarization configuration were obtained by using conductive atomic force microscopy and revealed a tail-to-tail polarization configuration at the domain boundary that demonstrated a more conductive character than the head-to-head polarization configuration.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
S. C. Chae, Y. Horibe, D. Y. Jeong, S. Rodan, N. Lee and S. W. Cheong, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107, 21366 (2010).
S. C. Chae, N. Lee, Y. Horibe, M. Tanimura, S. Mori, B. Gao, S. Carr and S. W. Cheong, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 167603 (2012).
J. Goldstone, Il Nuovo Cimento 19, 154 (1961).
P. M. Chaikin and T. C. Lubensky, Principles of condensed matter physics (Cambridge Univ Press, 2000).
S. M. Griffin, M. Lilienblum, K. T. Delaney, Y. Kumagai, M. Fiebig and N. A. Spaldin, Phys. Rev. X 2, 041022 (2012).
T. W. Kibble, J. Phys. A 9, 1387 (1976).
W.H. Zurek, Nature 317, 505 (1985).
Y. Geng, N. Lee, Y. J. Choi, S. W. Cheong and W. Wu, Nano Lett. 12, 6055 (2012).
M. Fiebig, T. Lottermoser, D. Frhlich, A. Goltsev and R. Pisarev, Nature 419, 818 (2002).
T. Katsufuji et al., Phys. Rev. B 66, 134434 (2002).
T. Katsufuji, S. Mori, M. Masaki, Y. Moritomo, N. Yamamoto and H. Takagi, Phys. Rev. B 64, 104419 (2001).
B. B. Van Aken, T. T. Palstra, A. Filippetti and N. A. Spaldin, Nat. Mater. 3, 164 (2004).
Th. Lonkai, D. G. Tomuta, U. Amann, J. Ihringer, R. W. A. Hendrikx, D. M. Tobbens and J. A. Mydosh, Phys. Rev. B 69, 134108 (2004).
C. J. Fennie and K. M. Rabe, Phys. Rev. B 72, 100103 (2005).
R. E. Cohen and H. Krakauer, Ferroelectrics 136, 65 (1992).
R. E. Cohen, Nature 358, 136 (1992).
G. S. Grest and D. J. Srolovitz, Phys. Rev. B 30, 6535 (1984).
K. Kaski, M. Grant and J. D. Gunton, Phys. Rev. B 31, 3040 (1985).
T. Choi, Y. Horibe, H. Yi, Y. Choi, W. Wu and S.-W. Cheong, Nat. Mater. 9, 253 (2010).
T. Jungk, A. Hoffmann, M. Fiebig and E. Soergel, Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 012904 (2010).
Q. Zhang et al., Phys. Rev. B 85, 20102 (2012).
M.-G. Han, Y. Zhu, L. Wu, T. Aoki, V. Volkov, X. Wang, S. C. Chae, Y. S. Oh and S.-W. Cheong, Adv. Mater. 25, 2415 (2013).
Y. Kumagai and N. A. Spaldin, Nat. Commun. 4, 1540 (2013).
M. B. Einhorn, R. Savit and E. Rabinovici, Nucl. Phys. B 170, 16 (1980).
W. Zhong, R. D. King-Smith and D. Vanderbilt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 3618 (1994).
D. C. Tsui, H. L. Stormer and A. C. Gossard, Phys. Rev. Lett. 48, 1559 (1982).
A. Ohtomo and H. Y. Hwang, Nature 441, 120 (2006).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chae, S.C. Domain patterns and electric properties at domain walls in a surface normal to the direction of ferroelectric polarization in h-ErMnO3 . Journal of the Korean Physical Society 66, 1381–1385 (2015). https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.66.1381
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.66.1381