No Arabic abstract
Using a Ginzburg--Landau--Devonshire model that includes the coupling of polarization to strain, we calculate the fluctuation spectra of ferroelectric domain walls. The influence of the strain coupling differs between 180 degree and 90 degree walls due to the different strain profiles of the two configurations. The finite speed of acoustic phonons, $v_s$, retards the response of the strain to polarization fluctuations, and the results depend on $v_s$. For $v_s to infty$, the strain mediates an instantaneous electrostrictive interaction, which is long-range in the 90 degree wall case. For finite $v_s$, acoustic phonons damp the wall excitations, producing a continuum in the spectral function. As $v_s to 0$, a gapped mode emerges, which corresponds to the polarization oscillating in a fixed strain potential.
We study the effect of depolarization field related with inhomogeneous polarization distribution, strain and surface energy parameters on a domain wall profile near the surface of a ferroelectric film within the framework of Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire phenomenology. Both inhomogeneous elastic stress and positive surface energy lead to the wall broadening at electrically screened surface. For ferroelectrics with weak piezoelectric coupling, the extrapolation length that defines surface energy parameter, affects the wall broadening more strongly than inhomogeneous elastic stress. Unexpectedly, the domain wall profile follows a long-range power law when approaching the surface, while it saturates exponentially in the bulk. In materials with high piezoelectric coupling and negligibly small surface energy (i.e. high extrapolation length) inhomogeneous elastic stress effect dominates.
Chiral magnetic materials provide a number of challenging issues such as the highly efficient domain wall (DW) and skyrmion motions driven by electric current, as of the operation principles of emerging spintronic devices. The DWs in the chiral materials exhibit asymmetric DW speed variation under application of in plane magnetic field. Here, we show that such DW speed asymmetry causes the DW tilting during the motion along wire structure. It has been known that the DW tilting can be induced by the direct Zeeman interaction of the DW magnetization under application of in plane magnetic field. However, our experimental observations manifests that there exists another dominant process with the DW speed asymmetry caused by either the Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction (DMI) or the chirality dependent DW speed variation. A theoretical model based on the DW geometry reveals that the DW tilting is initiated by the DW pinning at wire edges and then, the direction of the DW tilting is determined by the DW speed asymmetry, as confirmed by a numerical simulation. The present observation reveals the decisive role of the DW pinning with the DW speed asymmetry, which determines the DW geometry and consequently, the dynamics.
A phenomenological treatment of domain walls based on the Ginzburg-Landau-Devonshire theory is developed for uniaxial, trigonal ferroelectrics lithium niobate and lithium tantalate. The contributions to the domain wall energy from polarization and strain as a function of orientation are considered. Analytical expressions are developed which are analyzed numerically to determine the minimum polarization, strain, and energy configurations of domain walls. It is found that hexagonal y-walls are preferred over x-walls in both materials. This agrees well with experimental observation of domain geometries in stoichiometric composition crystals.
We investigate ferrimagnetic domain wall dynamics induced by circularly polarized spin waves theoretically and numerically. We find that the direction of domain wall motion depends on both the circular polarization of spin waves and the sign of net spin density of ferrimagnet. Below the angular momentum compensation point, left- (right-) circularly polarized spin waves push a domain wall towards (away from) the spin-wave source. Above the angular momentum compensation point, on the other hand, the direction of domain wall motion is reversed. This bidirectional motion originates from the fact that the sign of spin-wave-induced magnonic torque depends on the circular polarization and the subsequent response of the domain wall to the magnonic torque is governed by the net spin density. Our finding provides a way to utilize a spin wave as a versatile driving force for bidirectional domain wall motion.
Domains and domain walls are among the key factors that determine the performance of ferroelectric materials. In recent years, a unique type of domain walls, i.e., the sawtooth-shaped domain walls, has been observed in BiFeO$_{3}$ and PbTiO$_{3}$. Here, we build a minimal model to reveal the origin of these sawtooth-shaped domain walls. Incorporating this model into Monte-Carlo simulations shows that (i) the competition between the long-range Coulomb interaction (due to bound charges) and short-range interaction (due to opposite dipoles) is responsible for the formation of these peculiar domain walls and (ii) their relative strength is critical in determining the periodicity of these sawtooth-shaped domain walls. Necessary conditions to form such domain walls are also discussed.