Center‐Type Topological Domain States in Ferroelectric Nanodots Tailored from Thin Films

Abstract

This article reports on using atomic force microscopy to investigate the structure and switching of ferroelectric domains on nanodot arrays. High‐density arrays of epitaxial discrete nanodots are fabricated by the template‐assisted tailoring of thin films. Furthermore, the measurement of the vectorial polarization distribution and switching of domains is conducted, which helps identify four topological domain states. In addition to convergent and divergent domain states with upward and downward polarization, double‐center and triple‐center domains are identified. Thus, the study shows the formation mechanisms for these topological domain states using the accumulation of mobile charges on the interface and the strain gradient arising from the tailoring of thin films into nanodots. The properties of these exotic multicenter topological domain states provide the opportunity to further study their potential application in high‐density storage devices.