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DOE OSTI · 3012960

Terahertz-field activation of polar skyrons

Wang, Huaiyu Hugo [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES)] (ORCID:0000000175551198)·Stoica, Vladimir A. [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)] (ORCID:0000000227347819)·Dai, Cheng [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)]·Paściak, Marek [Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Prague (Czech Republic)] (ORCID:0000000239028874)·Das, Sujit [Indian Institute of Science (IIS) (India)] (ORCID:0000000198230207)·Yang, Tiannan [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (China)]·Gonçalves, Mauro A. P. [Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Prague (Czech Republic)] (ORCID:0000000229518394)·Kulda, Jiri [Institut Laue Langevin (France)]·McCarter, Margaret R. [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)]·Mangu, Anudeep [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)]·Cao, Yue [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:000000023989158X)·Padma, Hari [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000306821849)·Saha, Utkarsh [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)]·Zhu, Diling [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)]·Sato, Takahiro [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)] (ORCID:0000000322020910)·Song, Sanghoon [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000334931850)·Hoffmann, Matthias C. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000235969853)·Kramer, Patrick [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000185891540)·Nelson, Silke [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)]·Sun, Yanwen [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000159266565)·Nguyen, Quynh [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)]·Zhang, Zhan [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)] (ORCID:0000000276186134)·Ramesh, Ramamoorthy [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)]·Martin, Lane W. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000318892513)·Lindenberg, Aaron M. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES); Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000332337161)·Chen, Long-Qing [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000333593781)·Freeland, John W. [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)] (ORCID:0000000348145308)·Hlinka, Jirka [Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Prague (Czech Republic)] (ORCID:0000000292934462)·Gopalan, Venkatraman [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000168663677)·Wen, Haidan [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)] (ORCID:000000025427175X)
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Abstract

Unraveling collective modes arising from coupled degrees of freedom is crucial for understanding complex interactions in solids and developing new functionalities. Unique collective behaviors emerge when two degrees of freedom, ordered on distinct length scales, interact. Polar skyrmions, three-dimensional electric polarization textures in ferroelectric superlattices, disrupt the lattice continuity at the nanometer scale with nontrivial topology, leading to previously unexplored collective modes. Here, using terahertz-field excitation and femtosecond x-ray diffraction, we discover subterahertz collective modes, dubbed “skyrons”, which appear as swirling patterns of atomic displacements functioning as atomic-scale gearsets. The key to activating skyrons is the use of the THz field that couples primarily to skyrmion domain walls. Momentum-resolved time-domain measurements of diffuse scattering reveal an avoided crossing in the dispersion relation of skyrons. Atomistic simulations and dynamical phase-field modeling provide microscopic insights into the three-dimensional crystallographic and polarization dynamics. The amplitude and dispersion of skyrons are demonstrated to be controlled by sample temperature and electric-field bias. The discovery of skyrons and their coupling with terahertz fields opens avenues for ultrafast control of topological polar structures.

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Wang, Huaiyu Hugo [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES)] (ORCID:0000000175551198), Stoica, Vladimir A. [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)] (ORCID:0000000227347819), Dai, Cheng [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)], Paściak, Marek [Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Prague (Czech Republic)] (ORCID:0000000239028874), Das, Sujit [Indian Institute of Science (IIS) (India)] (ORCID:0000000198230207), Yang, Tiannan [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. (China)], Gonçalves, Mauro A. P. [Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Prague (Czech Republic)] (ORCID:0000000229518394), Kulda, Jiri [Institut Laue Langevin (France)], McCarter, Margaret R. [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)], Mangu, Anudeep [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)], Cao, Yue [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:000000023989158X), Padma, Hari [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000306821849), Saha, Utkarsh [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)], Zhu, Diling [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)], Sato, Takahiro [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)] (ORCID:0000000322020910), Song, Sanghoon [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000334931850), Hoffmann, Matthias C. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000235969853), Kramer, Patrick [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000185891540), Nelson, Silke [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)], Sun, Yanwen [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000159266565), Nguyen, Quynh [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)], Zhang, Zhan [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)] (ORCID:0000000276186134), Ramesh, Ramamoorthy [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)], Martin, Lane W. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000318892513), Lindenberg, Aaron M. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES); Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000332337161), Chen, Long-Qing [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000333593781), Freeland, John W. [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)] (ORCID:0000000348145308), Hlinka, Jirka [Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Prague (Czech Republic)] (ORCID:0000000292934462), Gopalan, Venkatraman [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000168663677), Wen, Haidan [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)] (ORCID:000000025427175X). 2025-10-09. Terahertz-field activation of polar skyrons. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64033-6

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