Characteristics of ferroelectric-ferroelastic domains in N{é}el-type skyrmion host GaV${}_4$S${}_8$

Abstract

GaV${}_4$S${}_8$ is a multiferroic semiconductor hosting N{é}el-type magnetic skyrmions dressed with electric polarization. At T${}_s$ = 42K, the compound undergoes a structural phase transition of weakly first-order, from a non-centrosymmetric cubic phase at high temperatures to a polar rhombohedral structure at low temperatures. Below T${}_s$, ferroelectric domains are formed with the electric polarization pointing along any of the four $⟨111⟩$ axes. Although in this material the size and the shape of the ferroelectric-ferroelastic domains may act as important limiting factors in the formation of the N{é}el-type skyrmion lattice emerging below T${}_C$=13\:K, the characteristics of polar domains in GaV${}_4$S${}_8$ have not been studied yet. Here, we report on the inspection of the local-scale ferroelectric domain distribution in rhombohedral GaV${}_4$S${}_8$ using low-temperature piezoresponse force microscopy. We observed mechanically and electrically compatible lamellar domain patterns, where the lamellae are aligned parallel to the (100)-type planes with a typical spacing between 100 nm-1.2 $\mu$m. We expect that the control of ferroelectric domain size in polar skyrmion hosts can be exploited for the spatial confinement and manupulation of N{é}el-type skyrmions.

References in corpus (5)

• Dynamics of Multiferroic Domain Wall in Spin-Cycloidal Ferroelectric DyMnO${}_3$
• Electrical Probing of Field-Driven Cascading Quantized Transitions of Skyrmion Cluster States in MnSi Nanowires
• Field-Driven Evolution of Chiral Spin Textures in Thin Nanodisk of the Helimagnets
• Contrast Mechanisms for the Detection of Ferroelectric Domains with Scanning Force Microscopy
• Thermodynamic Properties of Ferromagnetic Mott- Insulators GaV4S8

Cited by in corpus (16)

• Macroscopic Manifestation of Domain-wall Magnetism and Magnetoelectric Effect in a Néel-type Skyrmion Host
• Magnetic avalanche of non-oxide conductive domain walls
• Stability of Néel-type skyrmion lattice against oblique magnetic fields in GaV${}_4$S${}_8$ and GaV${}_4$Se${}_8$
• Field and anisotropy driven transformations of spin spirals in cubic skyrmion hosts
• Lattice dynamics and electronic excitations in a large family of lacunar spinels with a breathing pyrochlore lattice structure
• Architecture of nanoscale ferroelectric domains in GaMo4S8
• Recent Advances in Unconventional Ferroelectrics and Multiferroics
• Magnetic phase transitions and spin density distribution in the molecular multiferroic GaV${}_4$S${}_8$ system
• Microwave directional dichroism resonant with spin excitations in the polar ferromagnet GaV${}_4$S${}_8$
• Establishing magneto-structural relationships in the solid solutions of the skyrmion hosting family of materials: GaV${}_4$S${}_{8-y}$Se${}_y$
• Magnetoentropic mapping and computational modeling of cycloids and skyrmions in the lacunar spinels GaV${}_4$S${}_8$ and GaV${}_4$Se${}_8$
• Antipolar transitions in GaNb${}_4$Se${}_8$ and GaTa${}_4$Se${}_8$
• Spin-orbit coupled Hubbard skyrmions
• Jahn-Teller driven quadrupolar ordering and spin-orbital dimer formation in GaNb${}_4$Se${}_8$
• Optical, dielectric, and magnetoelectric properties of ferroelectric and antiferroelectric lacunar spinels
• Magnetic and geometrical control of spin textures in the itinerant kagome magnet Fe${}_3$Sn${}_2$