Dynamic control of ferroic domain patterns by thermal quenching

Jan Gerrit Horstmann (), Ehsan Hassanpour, Aaron Merlin Müller, Yannik Zemp, Thomas Lottermoser, Yusuke Tokunaga, Yasujiro Taguchi, Yoshinori Tokura, Mads C. Weber and Manfred Fiebig
Additional contact information
Jan Gerrit Horstmann: ETH Zurich
Ehsan Hassanpour: ETH Zurich
Aaron Merlin Müller: ETH Zurich
Yannik Zemp: ETH Zurich
Thomas Lottermoser: ETH Zurich
Yusuke Tokunaga: The University of Tokyo
Yasujiro Taguchi: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)
Yoshinori Tokura: RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)
Mads C. Weber: UMR 6283 CNRS, Le Mans Université
Manfred Fiebig: ETH Zurich

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Controlling domain structures in ferroic materials is key to manipulating their functionality. Typically, quasi-static electric or magnetic fields are used to transform ferroic domains. In contrast, metallurgy employs rapid thermal quenches across phase transitions to create new domain patterns. This nonequilibrium approach overcomes constraints imposed by slow interactions, yet remains largely unexplored in ferroics. Here, we use thermal quenches to control ferroic domain patterns in a rare-earth orthoferrite. Cooling at variable rates triggers transitions between two ferroic phases, with transient domain evolution enabling selection of the final domain pattern. By tuning the quench rate, we either obtain the intrinsic domain structure of the low-temperature phase or transfer the high-temperature pattern–creating a hidden metastable domain state inaccessible at thermal equilibrium. Real-time imaging during quenching reveals two timescales: fast domain fragmentation followed by slower relaxation. This dynamic control of domain configurations offers a promising approach for manipulating ferroic order.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62158-2 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-62158-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62158-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().