Nara Lee

Conduction of topologically protected charged ferroelectric domain walls.

We report on the observation of nanoscale conduction at ferroelectric domain walls in hexagonal HoMnO(3) protected by the topology of multiferroic vortices using in situ conductive atomic force microscopy, piezoresponse force microscopy, and Kelvin-probe force microscopy at low temperatures. In addition to previously observed Schottky-like rectification at low bias [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 217601 (2010)], conductance spectra reveal that negatively charged tail-to-tail walls exhibit enhanced conduction at high forward bias, while positively charged head-to-head walls exhibit suppressed conduction at high reverse bias. Our results pave the way for understanding the semiconducting properties of the domains and domain walls in small-gap ferroelectrics.

Direct observation of the proliferation of ferroelectric loop domains and vortex-antivortex pairs.

We discovered stripe patterns of trimerization-ferroelectric domains in hexagonal REMnO(3) (RE=Ho,···,Lu) crystals (grown below ferroelectric transition temperatures (T(c)), reaching up to 1435 °C), in contrast with the vortex patterns in YMnO(3). These stripe patterns roughen with the appearance of numerous loop domains through thermal annealing just below T(c), but the stripe domain patterns turn to vortex-antivortex domain patterns through a freezing process when crystals cross T(c) even though the phase transition appears to not be Kosterlitz-Thouless-type. The experimental systematics are compared with the results of our six-state clock model simulation and also the Kibble-Zurek mechanism for trapped topological defects.

Self-organization, condensation, and annihilation of topological vortices and antivortices in a multiferroic

The interaction among topological defects can induce novel phenomena such as disclination pairs in liquid crystals and superconducting vortex lattices. Nanoscale topological vortices with swirling ferroelectric, magnetic, and structural antiphase relationships were found in multiferroic h-YMnO3. Herein, we report the discovery of intriguing, but seemingly irregular configurations of a zoo of topological vortices and antivortices. These configurations can be neatly analyzed in terms of graph theory and reflect the nature of self-organized criticality in complexity phenomena. External stimuli such as chemistry-driven or electric poling can induce the condensation and eventual annihilation of topological vortex–antivortex pairs.

Proximity-induced high-temperature superconductivity in the topological insulators Bi 2 Se 3 and Bi 2 Te 3

Interest in the superconducting proximity effect has been reinvigorated recently by novel optoelectronic applications as well as by the possible emergence of the elusive Majorana fermion at the interface between topological insulators and superconductors. Here we produce high-temperature superconductivity in Bi(2)Se(3) and Bi(2)Te(3) via proximity to Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+δ), to access higher temperature and energy scales for this phenomenon. This was achieved by a new mechanical bonding technique that we developed, enabling the fabrication of high-quality junctions between materials, unobtainable by conventional approaches. We observe proximity-induced superconductivity in Bi(2)Se(3) and Bi(2)Te(3) persisting up to at least 80 K-a temperature an order of magnitude higher than any previous observations. Moreover, the induced superconducting gap in our devices reaches values of 10 mV, significantly enhancing the relevant energy scales. Our results open new directions for fundamental studies in condensed matter physics and enable a wide range of applications in spintronics and quantum computing.

Collective magnetism at multiferroic vortex domain walls.

Cross-coupled phenomena of multiferroic domains and domain walls are of fundamental scientific and technological interest. Using cryogenic magnetic force microscopy, we find alternating net magnetic moments at ferroelectric domain walls around vortex cores in multiferroic hexagonal ErMnO(3), which correlate with each other throughout the entire vortex network. This collective nature of domain wall magnetism originates from the uncompensated Er(3+) moments at domain walls and the self-organization of the vortex network. Our results demonstrate that the collective domain wall magnetism can be controlled by external magnetic fields and represent a major advancement in the manipulation of local magnetic moments by harnessing cross-coupled domain walls.

Fabrication and characterization of topological insulator Bi2Se3 nanocrystals

In the recently discovered class of materials known as topological insulators, the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling causes certain topological invariants in the bulk to differ from their values in vacuum. The sudden change in invariants at the interface results in metallic, time reversal invariant surface states whose properties are useful for applications in spintronics and quantum computation. However, a key challenge is to fabricate these materials on the nanoscale appropriate for devices and probing the surface. To this end we have produced 2 nm thick nanocrystals of the topological insulator Bi2Se3 via mechanical exfoliation. For crystals thinner than 10 nm we observe the emergence of an additional mode in the Raman spectrum. The emergent mode intensity together with the other results presented here provide a recipe for production and thickness characterization of Bi2Se3 nanocrystals.

Evolution of the Domain Topology in a Ferroelectric

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 domains in hexagonal REMnO(3) (RE: rare earths) turn out to be associated with the macroscopic emergence of Z(2)×Z(3) symmetry. The results of our depth profiling of crystals with a self-poling tendency near surfaces reveal that the partial dislocation (i.e., wall-wall) interaction, not the interaction between vortices and antivortices, is primarily responsible for topological condensation through the macroscopic breaking of the Z(2) symmetry.

Piezoresponse force microscopy of domains and walls in multiferroic HoMnO3

We report ambient piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) studies of the multiferroic hexagonal manganite HoMnO3 performed on the cleaved (110) surface of a single-crystal specimen. By changing the sample orientation with respect to the cantilever, we observed an unexpected out-of-plane PFM signal at domain walls, which depends on domain wall orientation, in addition to the expected in-plane PFM signal in domains. Further studies confirmed that the domain wall PFM signal results from an out-of-plane displacement, which can be explained by a simple model of local elastic response with the conservation of unit cell volume at head-on domain walls.

Highly aligned epitaxial nanorods with a checkerboard pattern in oxide films.

One of the central challenges of nanoscience is fabrication of nanoscale structures with well-controlled architectures using planar thin-film technology. Herein, we report that ordered nanocheckerboards in ZnMnGaO4 films were grown epitaxially on single-crystal MgO substrates by utilizing a solid-state method of the phase separation-induced self-assembly. The films consist of two types of chemically distinct and regularly spaced nanorods with mutually coherent interfaces, approximately 4 x 4 x 750 nm3 in size and perfectly aligned along the film growth direction. Surprisingly, a significant in-plane strain, more than 2%, from the substrate is globally maintained over the entire film thickness of about 820 nm. The strain energy from Jahn-Teller distortions and the film-substrate lattice mismatch induce the coherent three-dimensional (3D) self-assembled nanostructure, relieving the volume strain energy while suppressing the formation of dislocations.

Independent ferroelectric contributions and rare-earth-induced polarization reversal in multiferroic TbMn2O5

Three independent contributions to the magnetically induced spontaneous polarization of multiferroic TbMn2O5 are uniquely separated by optical second harmonic generation and an analysis in terms of Landau theory. Two of the contributions are related to the Mn3+ and Mn4+ magnetic order and are independent of applied fields mu H-0(x) of up to +/- 7 T. The third contribution is related to the long-range antiferromagnetic Tb3+ order. It shows a drastic decrease upon the application of a magnetic field and mediates the change of sign of the spontaneous electric polarization in TbMn2O5. The close relationship between the rare-earth long-range order and the nonlinear optical properties points to isotropic Tb3+-Tb3+ exchange and O2- spin polarization as mechanisms for this rare-earth-induced ferroelectric contribution.