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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

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Macroscopic Polarization from Antiferrodistortive Cycloids in Ferroelastic SrTiO_{3}
Andrea Schiaffino1, Massimiliano Stengel1,2
1Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
Abstract:
Based on a first-principles based multiscale approach, we study the polarity P of ferroelastic twin walls in SrTiO_{3}. In addition to flexoelectricity, which was pointed out before, we identify two new mechanisms that crucially contribute to P: a direct "rotopolar" coupling to the gradients of the antiferrodistortive oxygen tilts, and a trilinear coupling that is mediated by the antiferroelectric displacement of the Ti atoms. Remarkably, the rotopolar coupling presents a strong analogy to the mechanism that generates a spontaneous polarization in cycloidal magnets. We show how this similarity allows for a breakdown of macroscopic inversion symmetry (and therefore a macroscopic polarization) in a periodic sequence of parallel twins. These results open new avenues towards engineering pyroelectricity or piezoelectricity in nominally nonpolar ferroic materials.
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