Ferroelectrics and multiferroics articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article
  13 May 2023 | Open Access

  Emergence of ferroelectricity in a nonferroelectric monolayer

  Here, the authors observe room-temperature ferroelectricity in van der Waals layered GaSe down to monolayer with mirror symmetric structures and attribute it to the intralayer sliding of the Se atomic sublayers.

  • Wenhui Li
  • , Xuanlin Zhang
  •  & Lan Chen

• Article
  27 April 2023 | Open Access

  Giant dynamic electromechanical response via field driven pseudo-ergodicity in nonergodic relaxors

  High-performance relaxor ferroelectrics have been widely used in industry. Here the authors show that the enhanced electromechanical response is related to the pseudo ergodicity of nonergodic relaxor ferroelectrics under periodic electric field.

  • He Qi
  • , Tengfei Hu
  •  & Jun Chen

• Article
  24 April 2023 | Open Access

  Solution epitaxy of polarization-gradient ferroelectric oxide films with colossal photovoltaic current

  Developing low-temperature solution epitaxy and elucidating its underlying mechanisms is highly desired for low-cost fabrication of single-crystal ferroelectric films. Here, the authors show that a polarization screening between ferroelectrics and substrates can tailor the interface energy and drive the solution epitaxy of polarization-gradient ferroelectric oxide films, demonstrating a remarkable photovoltaic effect.

  • Chen Lin
  • , Zijun Zhang
  •  & Gaorong Han

• Article
  20 April 2023 | Open Access

  Magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroics probed by optical second harmonic generation

  Here, the authors probe a magneto-electric coupling in freestanding BiFeO₃ by optical second harmonic generation with varying magnetic field and temperature. They find the coupling to be suppressed by strain releasing whereas it remains robust against thermal fluctuations.

  • Shuai Xu
  • , Jiesu Wang
  •  & Guozhen Yang

• Article
  30 March 2023 | Open Access

  Interface-engineered ferroelectricity of epitaxial Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ thin films

  Ferroelectric hafnia-based thin films are promising for applications in memories and neuromorphic devices due to their robust ferroelectricity at reduced dimensions. Here, the authors demonstrate stabilization of the metastable orthorhombic phase in Hf_0.5 Zr_0.5O₂ films by interface engineering with a hole doping mechanism.

  • Shu Shi
  • , Haolong Xi
  •  & Jingsheng Chen

• Article
  30 March 2023 | Open Access

  Well-defined double hysteresis loop in NaNbO₃ antiferroelectrics

  Here, the authors design NaNbO₃ based ceramics with the aim of enabling a field-induced reversible phase transformation between the antiferroelectric and ferroelectric phases, which manifests itself in a well-defined double hysteresis loop in the P-E hysteresis curve.

  • Nengneng Luo
  • , Li Ma
  •  & Shujun Zhang

• Article
  24 March 2023 | Open Access

  Polar meron-antimeron networks in strained and twisted bilayers

  Sliding and twisting of van der Waals layers can produce fascinating physical phenomena. Here, authors show that moiré polar domains in bilayer hBN give rise to a topologically non-trivial winding of the polarization field, forming networks of merons and antimerons.

  • Daniel Bennett
  • , Gaurav Chaudhary
  •  & Philippe Ghosez

• Article
  18 March 2023 | Open Access

  Tailoring high-energy storage NaNbO₃-based materials from antiferroelectric to relaxor states

  Antiferroelectrics are important in emerging energy-storage technologies. Here, the authors present an approach to adjust their local structure and defect chemistry, in order to overcome the current limitations and make them suitable for environmentally-friendly dielectric energy storage.

  • Mao-Hua Zhang
  • , Hui Ding
  •  & Jurij Koruza

• Article
  13 March 2023 | Open Access

  Emergent chirality in a polar meron to skyrmion phase transition

  Polar skyrmions are particle-like objects consisted of swirling electric dipoles that hold promise for next generation nanodevices. Here, the authors explore the strain-induced transition from skyrmions to merons using electron imaging methods.

  • Yu-Tsun Shao
  • , Sujit Das
  •  & David A. Muller

• Article
  10 March 2023 | Open Access

  Double dome structure of the Bose–Einstein condensation in diluted S = 3/2 quantum magnets

  Previous studies of magnetic Bose–Einstein condensates have been limited to magnetic materials with small spin numbers. Here the authors study the magnetic phase diagram of a S = 3/2 quantum antiferromagnet and show a double dome structure that is attributed to different types of condensates.

  • Yoshito Watanabe
  • , Atsushi Miyake
  •  & Taka-hisa Arima

• Article
  01 March 2023 | Open Access

  Heterovalent-doping-enabled atom-displacement fluctuation leads to ultrahigh energy-storage density in AgNbO₃-based multilayer capacitors

  AgNbO₃ has a potential for high power capacitors due to its antiferroelectric characteristics. Here, the authors achieve multilayer capacitors with energy-storage density of 14 J·cm⁻³ by heterovalent-doping-enabled atom-displacement fluctuation.

  • Li-Feng Zhu
  • , Shiqing Deng
  •  & Jing-Feng Li

• Article
  23 February 2023 | Open Access

  Emergence of high piezoelectricity from competing local polar order-disorder in relaxor ferroelectrics

  Understanding high piezoelectricity in relaxors is challenging due to the heterogeneous structures. Here, the authors demonstrate that the competing local polar order-disorder state with balanced length and direction randomness is the key.

  • Hui Liu
  • , Xiaoming Shi
  •  & Jun Chen

• Article
  15 February 2023 | Open Access

  Electrical and magnetic anisotropies in van der Waals multiferroic CuCrP₂S₆

  Manipulating electrical and magnetic anisotropies will stimulate multi-terminal device applications. Here, the authors discover axis dependence of current rectifications, magnetic properties and magnon modes in van der Waals multiferroic CuCrP₂S₆.

  • Xiaolei Wang
  • , Zixuan Shang
  •  & Jianhua Zhao

• Article
  10 February 2023 | Open Access

  Ferroelectric nematic liquids with conics

  Defect lines shaped as conic sections are common in smectic liquid crystals, where they manifest equidistance of molecular layers curled in space. Here authors present hyperbolas and parabolas as domain walls in ferroelectric nematics, which are shaped so to avoid being electrically charged.

  • Priyanka Kumari
  • , Bijaya Basnet
  •  & Oleg D. Lavrentovich

• Article
  17 January 2023 | Open Access

  Suppressing non-radiative recombination in metal halide perovskite solar cells by synergistic effect of ferroelasticity

  The origin of low non-radiative recombination in perovskites was not well-understood. Here, authors apply electric field to manipulate ferroelastic lattice deformation to study non-radiative recombination and strain in twinning tetragonal phase, achieving an increased open-circuit voltage to 1.26 V.

  • Wei Qin
  • , Wajid Ali
  •  & Can Li

• Article
  03 January 2023 | Open Access

  Sliding ferroelectricity in van der Waals layered γ-InSe semiconductor

  Exploring two-dimensional layered ferroelectric semiconductors is highly desired for ferroelectric-based devices. Here, the authors realize the room-temperature ferroelectricity in layered Y-doped γ-InSe due to the microstructure modifications.

  • Fengrui Sui
  • , Min Jin
  •  & Junhao Chu

• Article
  17 December 2022 | Open Access

  Spontaneous electric-polarization topology in confined ferroelectric nematics

  Though magnetic and electric states are closely related, many magnetic states cannot find their electric counterparts. Here, the authors report electric variants of merons in thin films of the emerging liquid-matter state, i.e., ferroelectric nematic.

  • Jidan Yang
  • , Yu Zou
  •  & Satoshi Aya

• Article
  13 December 2022 | Open Access

  Sliding induced multiple polarization states in two-dimensional ferroelectrics

  Layer dependence is an important aspect to properties of van der Waals materials. Here, the authors obtain layer dependent multiple polarization states in 3 R MoS₂ and propose a generalized model to describe their ferroelectric switching processes.

  • Peng Meng
  • , Yaze Wu
  •  & Fucai Liu

• Article
  24 November 2022 | Open Access

  Giant switchable non thermally-activated conduction in 180° domain walls in tetragonal Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃

  Conductive domain walls are envisioned for future nanoelectronics and computational hardware. Here, the authors investigate an approach to use rewriteable arrangements of highly conductive channels based on nominally neutral 180°-domain walls.

  • Felix Risch
  • , Yuri Tikhonov
  •  & Igor Stolichnov

• Article
  17 November 2022 | Open Access

  Molecular magneto-ionic proton sensor in solid-state proton battery

  Ionic control of magnetism promises ultralow-field sensor, but current physical realizations of proton-based magneto-ionic sensor are limited due to the lack of effective solid-state sensing methods. Here, authors report magneto-ionics-based proton sensing under low working radiofrequency and magnetic fields.

  • Yong Hu
  • , Zipeng Guo
  •  & Shenqiang Ren

• Article
  17 November 2022 | Open Access

  Programmable ferroelectric bionic vision hardware with selective attention for high-precision image classification

  Selective attention is an efficient processing strategy to allocate computational resources for pivotal optical information. Here, the authors propose a bionic vision hardware to emulate the behavior, showing a potential in image classification.

  • Rengjian Yu
  • , Lihua He
  •  & Huipeng Chen

• Article
  15 November 2022 | Open Access

  Releasing chemical energy in spatially programmed ferroelectrics

  Chemical energy ferroelectrics show limited control of the energy release rate. Here, the authors design spatially programmed energetic ferroelectrics with controlled energy release rates from machine learning-directed additive manufacturing and ice-templating assembly.

  • Yong Hu
  • , Jennifer L. Gottfried
  •  & Shenqiang Ren

• Article
  05 November 2022 | Open Access

  Anisotropic dislocation-domain wall interactions in ferroelectrics

  Dislocations are often perceived as a culprit for degradation in functionality. Here, the authors introduce a general framework for engineering dislocations and domain walls and demonstrate its full potential on a ferroelectric BaTiO₃ single crystal.

  • Fangping Zhuo
  • , Xiandong Zhou
  •  & Jürgen Rödel

• Article
  02 November 2022 | Open Access

  Miniaturized electromechanical devices with multi-vibration modes achieved by orderly stacked structure with piezoelectric strain units

  Most piezoelectric coefficients in piezoelectric ceramics are zero, resulting in many piezoelectric vibration modes cannot be excited. Here, the authors propose an orderly stacked structure to achieve all nonzero piezoelectric coefficients.

  • Jinfeng Liu
  • , Xiangyu Gao
  •  & Fei Li

• Article
  27 October 2022 | Open Access

  Field-induced ultrafast modulation of Rashba coupling at room temperature in ferroelectric α-GeTe(111)

  The ferroelectric material α-GeTe(111) is an excellent playground for spin-to charge conversion due to its strong Rashba coupling. Here, the authors reveal an ultrafast modulation of its Rashba coupling on the femtosecond timescale.

  • Geoffroy Kremer
  • , Julian Maklar
  •  & Claude Monney

• Article
  25 October 2022 | Open Access

  Deciphering the atomic-scale structural origin for large dynamic electromechanical response in lead-free Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃-based relaxor ferroelectrics

  For relaxor ferroelectrics, correlating their properties and local structures is challenging. Here, the authors correlate the atomic-scale structure and the large dynamic electromechanical property in Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃-based relaxor ferroelectrics.

  • Jie Yin
  • , Xiaoming Shi
  •  & Jiagang Wu

• Article
  25 October 2022 | Open Access

  Electric-field control of the nucleation and motion of isolated three-fold polar vertices

  Despite various known topological polar structures, the dynamic property of isolated ones is still poorly understood. Here, the authors show the controlled nucleation and ability to move of isolated three-fold vertices under an applied electric field.

  • Mingqiang Li
  • , Tiannan Yang
  •  & Peng Gao

• Article
  18 October 2022 | Open Access

  Biferroelectricity of a homochiral organic molecule in both solid crystal and liquid crystal phases

  Ferroelectricity normally exists in either solid crystals or liquid crystals. Here, the authors report a homochiral organic compound which shows ferroelectricity in both solid crystal and liquid crystal phases.

  • Xian-Jiang Song
  • , Xiao-Gang Chen
  •  & Wei-Qiang Liao

• Article
  17 October 2022 | Open Access

  Two-dimensional multiferroic material of metallic p-doped SnSe

  2D multiferroic materials have garnered broad interests due to their magnetoelectric properties and multifunctional applications. Here, the authors discover a multiferroic feature in physical vapor deposition synthesized 2D metallic p-doped SnSe.

  • Ruofan Du
  • , Yuzhu Wang
  •  & Jun He

• Article
  06 October 2022 | Open Access

  Continuously tunable ferroelectric domain width down to the single-atomic limit in bismuth tellurite

  Tunability of ferroelectric domain structure is significant in ferroelectric materials. Here, the authors present in-plane ferroelectricity in 2D Bi₂TeO₅ in which the ferroelectric domain size and shape can be continuously tuned by the Bi/Te ratio.

  • Mengjiao Han
  • , Cong Wang
  •  & Junhao Lin

• Article
  04 October 2022 | Open Access

  Thermal management of chips by a device prototype using synergistic effects of 3-D heat-conductive network and electrocaloric refrigeration

  Efficient thermal structure and precise heat management become a substantial challenge for electronics. Here, authors utilize the synergistic effect of classic heat transfer and electrocaloric cooling for fixed-point thermal management of chips.

  • Ming-Ding Li
  • , Xiao-Quan Shen
  •  & Qun-Dong Shen

• Article
  24 September 2022 | Open Access

  Bond engineering of molecular ferroelectrics renders soft and high-performance piezoelectric energy harvesting materials

  Improving piezoelectric strain and voltage constant generally compromises piezoelectric performance and mechanical softness. Here, the authors report a bond weakening strategy for organic-inorganic hybrid piezoelectrics and mitigated these issues.

  • Yuzhong Hu
  • , Kaushik Parida
  •  & Hong Jin Fan

• Article
  10 September 2022 | Open Access

  Record high-T_c and large practical utilization level of electric polarization in metal-free molecular antiferroelectric solid solutions

  Molecular ferroic materials receive considerable interest in view of field-induced switchable polar/magnetic orders. Here, the authors exploit metal-free antiferroelectrics in molecular solid solutions to assemble high-performance ferroic materials.

  • Haojie Xu
  • , Wuqian Guo
  •  & Zhihua Sun

• Article
  01 September 2022 | Open Access

  Critical ionic transport across an oxygen-vacancy ordering transition

  Phase transition points can be used to reduce the ionic migration activation energy. Here, the authors find a lowered activation energy associated with oxygen transport at a compositional phase transition point in Ca-doped bismuth ferrite films.

  • Ji Soo Lim
  • , Ho-Hyun Nahm
  •  & Chan-Ho Yang

• Article
  31 August 2022 | Open Access

  Enhanced polarization and abnormal flexural deformation in bent freestanding perovskite oxides

  Freestanding perovskite oxides pave the way to novel flexural properties. Here, the authors observe the nanoscale strain gradient induced flexoelectric polarization with an unusual flexo-expansion/shrinkage effect in freestanding ferroelectric oxide.

  • Songhua Cai
  • , Yingzhuo Lun
  •  & Xiaoqing Pan

• Article
  29 August 2022 | Open Access

  Heterostrain-enabled ultrahigh electrostrain in lead-free piezoelectric

  Developing high-strain piezoelectric materials has been a long-term challenge. Here, the authors report one strategy to enhance the electrostrain via designing heterostrain through atomic-scale defect engineering and mesoscale domain engineering.

  • Wei Feng
  • , Bingcheng Luo
  •  & Longtu Li

• Article
  22 August 2022 | Open Access

  Double-Bilayer polar nanoregions and Mn antisites in (Ca, Sr)₃Mn₂O₇

  The competition between the polar and nonpolar phase in the prototypical hybrid improper ferroelectric crystal Ca₃Mn₂O₇ leads to exotic properties. Here, the authors directly imaged the crystal at atomic resolution to understand its nanostructure and discovered the double bilayer polar nanoregion.

  • Leixin Miao
  • , Kishwar-E Hasin
  •  & Nasim Alem

• Article
  15 August 2022 | Open Access

  Atomic-scale 3D imaging of individual dopant atoms in an oxide semiconductor

  Small variations in the density of dopants change the physical properties of complex oxides. Here, the authors resolve doping levels in three dimension, imaging the atomic sites that donors occupy in the small band gap semiconductor Er(Mn,Ti)O₃.

  • K. A. Hunnestad
  • , C. Hatzoglou
  •  & D. Meier

• Article
  26 July 2022 | Open Access

  Nonvolatile ferroelectric domain wall memory integrated on silicon

  Integrating ferroelectric perovskite oxides on Si is highly desired for electronic applications but challenging. Here, the authors show emergent in-plane ferroelectricity and promising nonvolatile memories based on resistive domain wall in BaTiO₃/Si.

  • Haoying Sun
  • , Jierong Wang
  •  & Yuefeng Nie

• Article
  25 July 2022 | Open Access

  Competing electronic states emerging on polar surfaces

  Defect-free surfaces with excess charge are typically described as a homogeneous 2D electron gas. Here, in contrast, the authors find that the KTaO₃(001) surface hosts a charge density wave coexisting with a pattern of electron polarons, highly localized states of excess electrons bound to a lattice distortion.

  • Michele Reticcioli
  • , Zhichang Wang
  •  & Cesare Franchini

• Article
  22 July 2022 | Open Access

  Bipolar charge collecting structure enables overall water splitting on ferroelectric photocatalysts

  While ferroelectric materials are promising candidates for solar water splitting, most examples show poor activities. Here, authors prepare charge-collecting nanostructures on the positive and negative domains of BaTiO₃ and demonstrate photocatalytic overall water splitting.

  • Yong Liu
  • , Mingjian Zhang
  •  & Fengtao Fan

• Article
  07 July 2022 | Open Access

  Origin of giant electric-field-induced strain in faulted alkali niobate films

  Maximizing the electromechanical response is crucial for developing piezoelectric devices. Here, the authors demonstrate a giant electric-field-induced strain and its origin in alkali niobate epitaxial thin films with self-assembled planar faults.

  • Moaz Waqar
  • , Haijun Wu
  •  & John Wang

• Article
  07 July 2022 | Open Access

  Soliton walls paired by polar surface interactions in a ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal

  Surface interactions are usually polar along the normal to the interface and apolar within the interface. Here, the authors find that polar in-plane surface interactions produce domain structures in the bulk of a ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal.

  • Bijaya Basnet
  • , Mojtaba Rajabi
  •  & Oleg D. Lavrentovich

• Article
  22 June 2022 | Open Access

  Dielectric magnetochiral anisotropy

  The interplay between chirality and magnetism has been attracting much. Here, the authors show that the movement of bound charges in a chiral dielectric depends on the relative orientation between this movement and an external magnetic field.

  • Geert L. J. A. Rikken
  •  & Narcis Avarvari

• Article
  15 June 2022 | Open Access

  Deciphering the phase transition-induced ultrahigh piezoresponse in (K,Na)NbO₃-based piezoceramics

  Functional oxides with coexisting states of comparable energy typically exhibit extraordinary responses to external stimuli. Here, the authors demonstrate that coexisting phase structures provide large electric field-triggered volume change.

  • Mao-Hua Zhang
  • , Chen Shen
  •  & Manuel Hinterstein

• Article
  07 June 2022 | Open Access

  Multilevel polarization switching in ferroelectric thin films

  Setting any polarization value in ferroelectric thin films is a key step for their implementation in neuromorphic devices. Here, the authors demonstrate continuous modulation of the remanent polarization at the nanoscale in PbZr_0.52Ti_0.48O₃ films.

  • Martin F. Sarott
  • , Marta D. Rossell
  •  & Morgan Trassin

• Article
  06 June 2022 | Open Access

  Ferroelectric domain-wall logic units

  Ferroelectric domain walls have been extensively explored for nanoelectronics, but the logic devices are still challenging. Here, the authors propose programmable logic gates and circuits based on electric-field controllable conductive domain walls.

  • Jing Wang
  • , Jing Ma
  •  & Ce-Wen Nan

• Article
  03 June 2022 | Open Access

  Intercalation-driven ferroelectric-to-ferroelastic conversion in a layered hybrid perovskite crystal

  There are few examples of tunable ferroic orders in two-dimensional layered hybrid perovskites. Here, the authors demonstrate tunable ferroic orders from ferroelectricity to ferroelasticity in such system by intercalation chemistry.

  • Zhenyue Wu
  • , Shunning Li
  •  & Kian Ping Loh

• Article
  02 June 2022 | Open Access

  Giant energy-storage density with ultrahigh efficiency in lead-free relaxors via high-entropy design

  Dielectric ceramics are widely used in advanced high/pulsed power capacitors. Here, the authors propose a high-entropy strategy to design “local polymorphic distortion” in lead-free ceramics, achieving high energy storage performance.

  • Liang Chen
  • , Shiqing Deng
  •  & Jun Chen

• Article
  20 May 2022 | Open Access

  Exceptionally high work density of a ferroelectric dynamic organic crystal around room temperature

  Organic electronics requires dynamic materials, however, most of them have small strokes and operate at high temperatures. Here, the authors describe organic crystal that repeatedly expands and contracts nearly half its length around room temperature.

  • Durga Prasad Karothu
  • , Rodrigo Ferreira
  •  & Panče Naumov