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Updated: Jun 13, 2025

A Microfluidic Approach for the Study of Ice and Clathrate Hydrate Crystallization
Published on: August 18, 2022
Dynamics of Polar Vortex Crystallization
S Rijal1, Y Nahas1, S Prokhorenko1
1Smart Ferroic Materials Center, Physics Department and Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, <a href="https://ror.org/05jbt9m15">University of Arkansas</a>, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA.
Abstract:
Vortex crystals are commonly observed in ultrathin ferroelectrics. However, a clear physical picture of origin of this topological state is currently lacking. Here, we show that vortex crystallization in ultrathin Pb(Zr_{0.4},Ti_{0.6})O_{3} films stems from the softening of a phonon mode and can be described as a Z_{2}×SU(1) symmetry-breaking transition. This result sheds light on the topology of the polar vortex patterns and bridges polar vortices with smectic phases, spin spirals, and other modulated states. Finally, we predict a resonant switching of the vortex tube orientation driven by midinfrared laser light which could enable new technologies.
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