Work

Transferring orbital angular momentum to an electron beam reveals toroidal and chiral order

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: Orbital angular momentum (OAM) and torque transfer play central roles in a wide range of magnetic textures and devices including skyrmions and spin-torque electronics. Analogous topological structures are now also being explored in ferroelectrics, including polarization vortex arrays in ferroelectric/dielectric superlattices. Unlike magnetic toroidal order, electric toroidal order does not couple directly to linear external fields. Instead, we find that the presence of an electric toroidal moment in a ferrorotational phase transfers measurable torque and OAM to a localized electron beam in the ballistic limit. We record these torque transfers from a high-energy electron beam using a momentum-resolved detector. This approach provides a high-sensitivity method to detect polarization fields and their more complex order parameters and topologies. In addition to toroidal order, we also demonstrate high-precision measurements of vorticity and chirality for polar vortexlike phases.

Source: Physical review. B./Physical review. B

DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.107.205419

Authors: K. X. Nguyen, Y. Jiang, M. C. Cao, P. Purohit, A. K. Yadav, P. García-Fernández, M. W. Tate, C. S. Chang, P. Aguado-Puente, J. Íñiguez, F. Gomez-Ortiz, S. M. Gruner, J. Junquera, L. W. Martin, R. Ramesh, D. A. Muller

Institutions: Cornell University, University of California, Berkeley, Universidad de Cantabria, Queen's University Belfast, CIC nanoGUNE, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Language: English

Topic: Multiferroics and related materials

Subfield: Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Fonds National de la Recherche Luxembourg, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Office of Science, Cornell Center for Materials Research, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University, Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, Kavli Institute at Cornell, Cornell University, Division of Materials Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Awards: G1205195086, G1251992358, G1321126357, G222768804, G2415270547, G3107766857, Cornell Center for Materials Research - MRSEC, G4236616717, G5917061246, G6003642051, G6143048590, NEW; SISGR - USING INTERFACES TO CREATE STRONGLY-COUPLED MAGNETIC-FERROELECTRICS; PI - DARRELL G. SCHLOM, G6351810044, G6459294968, G6728930308, TAS::89 0222::TAS; NEW; VERSATILE, REPROGRAMMABLE AREA PIXEL ARRAY DETECTOR FOR TIME-RESOLVED SYNCHROTRON X-RAY APPLICATIONS; PI - SOL GRUNER, NEW; SISGR - USING INTERFACES TO CREATE STRONGLY-COUPLED MAGNETIC-FERROELECTRICS; PI - DARRELL G. SCHLOM, G7767248047

OpenAlex ID: W4378416625

FWCI: 0.302

Cites: 50

Cited by: 5

Related to: 10