Deterministic Switching of Antipolar Variants in Antiferroelectric Membranes
Abstract
Abstract Antiferroelectric (AFE) materials, characterized by their antiparallel dipole alignments, offer distinct ferroic functionalities desirable for high‐energy‐density storage and next‐generation low‐power electronic devices. However, the intrinsic degeneracy among antipolar domain variants poses a critical obstacle to their deterministic, nonvolatile control and practical integration into functional architectures. Here, selective and reversible manipulation of AFE domain configurations in freestanding PbZrO 3 membranes via electron beam irradiation are demonstrated. By tailoring the electron beam–induced built‐in electric field, controlled writing and erasure of both in‐plane and out‐of‐plane antipolar domain variants are enabled. Complementary phase‐field simulations uncover the underlying energetic landscape and domain evolution under varying irradiation conditions, offering mechanistic insight into the observed transformations. These findings demonstrate a promising strategy for domain‐level engineering of antiferroelectrics, establishing a generic and programmable approach to deterministically control antipolar ordering in perovskite systems—suggesting a pathway toward controlled, reversible switching of AFE domains in nanoscale oxide architectures.
Article Details
Authors (16)
Yi‐De Liou
Department of Physics National Cheng Kung University Tainan 70101 Taiwan
Shih‐Chao Chang
Department of Physics National Cheng Kung University Tainan 70101 Taiwan
Hong‐Ren Wang
Department of Physics National Cheng Kung University Tainan 70101 Taiwan
Puneet Kaur
Shin‐Hong Chen
Department of Physics National Cheng Kung University Tainan 70101 Taiwan
Bo‐Cia Chen
Department of Physics National Cheng Kung University Tainan 70101 Taiwan
Yong‐Jyun Wang
Department of Materials Science and Engineering National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu 300044 Taiwan
Le Thi Quynh
Department of Materials Science and Engineering National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu 300044 Taiwan
Yen‐Lin Huang
Department of Materials Science and Engineering National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University Hsinchu 300093 Taiwan
Ye Cao
Yi‐Chun Chen
Department of Physics National Cheng Kung University Tainan 70101 Taiwan
Zheng Liu
Ying‐Hao Chu
Department of Materials Science and Engineering National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu 300044 Taiwan
Yung‐Chang Lin
Research Institute of Core Technology for Materials Innovation National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) Tsukuba 305‐8565 Japan
Kazu Suenaga
SANKEN (The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research), Osaka University, 8-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan.
Jan‐Chi Yang
Department of Physics National Cheng Kung University Tainan Taiwan