Toroidal polar topology in strained ferroelectric polymer

Mengfan Guo, Changqing Guo, Jian Han, Shulin Chen, Shan He, Tongxiang Tang, Qian Li, Joseph Strzalka, Jing Ma, Di Yi, Ke Wang, Ben Xu, Peng Gao, Houbing Huang, Long Qing Chen, Shujun Zhang, Yuan Hua Lin, Ce Wen Nan*, Yang Shen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

90 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Polar topological texture has become an emerging research field for exotic phenomena and potential applications in reconfigurable electronic devices. We report toroidal topological texture self-organized in a ferroelectric polymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride-ran-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)], that exhibits concentric topology with anticoupled chiral domains. The interplay among the elastic, electric, and gradient energies results in continuous rotation and toroidal assembly of the polarization perpendicular to polymer chains, whereas relaxor behavior is induced along polymer chains. Such toroidal polar topology gives rise to periodic absorption of polarized far-infrared (FIR) waves, enabling the manipulation of the terahertz wave on a mesoscopic scale. Our observations should inform design principles for flexible ferroic materials toward complex topologies and provide opportunities for multistimuli conversions in flexible electronics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1050-1056
Number of pages7
JournalScience
Volume371
Issue number6533
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Mar 2021

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