Light-Driven Ultrafast Polarization Manipulation in a Relaxor Ferroelectric

Suji Park, Bo Wang, Tiannan Yang, Jieun Kim, Sahar Saremi, Wenbo Zhao, Burak Guzelturk, Aditya Sood, Clara Nyby, Marc Zajac, Xiaozhe Shen, Michael Kozina, Alexander H. Reid, Stephen Weathersby, Xijie Wang, Lane W. Martin, Long Qing Chen, Aaron M. Lindenberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)9275-9282
Number of pages8
JournalNano Letters
Volume22
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 14 2022
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Bioengineering
  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanical Engineering

Keywords

  • electron diffraction
  • ferroelectrics
  • structural dynamics
  • ultrafast

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