Evolution of the domain topology in a ferroelectric
S. C. Chae, Y. Horibe, D. Y. Jeong, N. Lee, K. Iida, M. Tanimura, and S.-W. Cheong
Accepted
Topological materials, including topological insulators, magnets with skyrmions and 13 ferroelectrics with topological vortices, have recently attracted phenomenal attention in the 14 materials science community. Complex patterns of ferroelectric domains in hexagonal 15 REMnO3 (RE: rare earths) turn out to be associated with the macroscopic emergence of 16 Z2��Z3 symmetry. The results of our depth profiling of crystals with self-poling tendency 17 near surfaces reveal that the partial dislocation (i.e., wall-wall) interaction, not the 18 interaction between vortices and antivortices, is primarily responsible for topological 19 condensation through the macroscopic breaking of the Z2-symmetry.