Emergent topological polarization textures in relaxor ferroelectrics

Maksim Eremenko (), Victor Krayzman, Semen Gorfman, Alexei Bosak, Helen Y. Playford, Philip A. Chater, Bruce Ravel, William J. Laws, Feng Ye, Arianna Minelli, Bi-Xia Wang, Zuo-Guang Ye, Matthew G. Tucker and Igor Levin ()
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Maksim Eremenko: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Victor Krayzman: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Semen Gorfman: Tel Aviv University
Alexei Bosak: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
Helen Y. Playford: Science and Technology Facilities Council
Philip A. Chater: Science and Technology Facilities Council
Bruce Ravel: National Institute of Standards and Technology
William J. Laws: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Feng Ye: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Arianna Minelli: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Bi-Xia Wang: Simon Fraser University
Zuo-Guang Ye: Simon Fraser University
Matthew G. Tucker: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Igor Levin: National Institute of Standards and Technology

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Relaxor ferroelectrics underpin high-performance actuators and sensors, yet the nature of polar heterogeneities driving their broadband dielectric response remains debated. Using a unified, multimodal structural refinement framework— simultaneously fitting complementary X-ray and neutron total scattering, X-ray absorption spectra, and diffuse scattering—we reconstruct 3D mesoscale polarization maps in the classic relaxor system PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3–PbTiO3. We uncover self-organized swirling polarization textures with half-skyrmion (meron) vortices, challenging models of independent polar nanoregions. These textures, characterized by smooth changes in the polarization direction, originate from overlapping volumes in which the projections of locally correlated polarization vectors onto each volume’s long axis share the same sign. Vortex cores correlate strongly with local charge and strain gradients imposed by compositional heterogeneities. In this work, our results suggest that chemical disorder, acting via depolarizing and strain fields, stabilizes topological vortex textures of the polarization field, offering a route for engineering new dielectric and ferroelectric functionalities.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62658-1

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