Directions of rectification and photocurrent in a ferroelectric BiFeO3 crystal can be switched by applying high‐voltage pulses at room temperature. The switching is highly repeatable though cycling ...and also stable with time. This switchable photocurrent and diode effect results from the combination of polarization flipping and electromigration of oxygen vacancies.
We report on the observation of nanoscale conduction at ferroelectric domain walls in hexagonal HoMnO(3) protected by the topology of multiferroic vortices using in situ conductive atomic force ...microscopy, piezoresponse force microscopy, and Kelvin-probe force microscopy at low temperatures. In addition to previously observed Schottky-like rectification at low bias Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 217601 (2010), conductance spectra reveal that negatively charged tail-to-tail walls exhibit enhanced conduction at high forward bias, while positively charged head-to-head walls exhibit suppressed conduction at high reverse bias. Our results pave the way for understanding the semiconducting properties of the domains and domain walls in small-gap ferroelectrics.
Unidirectional electric current flow, such as that found in a diode, is essential for modern electronics. It usually occurs at asymmetric interfaces such as p-n junctions or metal/semiconductor ...interfaces with Schottky barriers. We report on a diode effect associated with the direction of bulk electric polarization in BiFeO3: a ferroelectric with a small optical gap edge of approximately 2.2 electron volts. We found that bulk electric conduction in ferroelectric monodomain BiFeO3 crystals is highly nonlinear and unidirectional. This diode effect switches its direction when the electric polarization is flipped by an external voltage. A substantial visible-light photovoltaic effect is observed in BiFeO3 diode structures. These results should improve understanding of charge conduction mechanisms in leaky ferroelectrics and advance the design of switchable devices combining ferroelectric, electronic, and optical functionalities.
The motion of atoms in a solid always responds to cooling or heating in a way that is consistent with the symmetry of the given space group of the solid to which they belong. When the atoms move, the ...electronic structure of the solid changes, leading to different physical properties. Therefore, the determination of where atoms are and what atoms do is a cornerstone of modern solid-state physics. However, experimental observations of atomic displacements measured as a function of temperature are very rare, because those displacements are, in almost all cases, exceedingly small. Here we show, using a combination of diffraction techniques, that the hexagonal manganites RMnO3 (where R is a rare-earth element) undergo an isostructural transition with exceptionally large atomic displacements: two orders of magnitude larger than those seen in any other magnetic material, resulting in an unusually strong magneto-elastic coupling. We follow the exact atomic displacements of all the atoms in the unit cell as a function of temperature and find consistency with theoretical predictions based on group theories. We argue that this gigantic magneto-elastic coupling in RMnO3 holds the key to the recently observed magneto-electric phenomenon in this intriguing class of materials.
Circularly polarized light with spin angular momentum is one of the most valuable probes of magnetism. We demonstrate that light beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM), or vortex beams, can also ...couple to magnetism exhibiting dichroisms in a magnetized medium. Resonant optical absorption in a ferrimagnetic crystal depends strongly on both the handedness of the vortex and the direction of the beam propagation with respect to the sample magnetization. This effect exceeds the conventional dichroism for circularly polarized light. Our results demonstrate the high potential of the vortex beams with OAM as a new spectroscopic probe of magnetism in matter.
Cross-coupled phenomena of multiferroic domains and domain walls are of fundamental scientific and technological interest. Using cryogenic magnetic force microscopy, we find alternating net magnetic ...moments at ferroelectric domain walls around vortex cores in multiferroic hexagonal ErMnO3, which correlate with each other throughout the entire vortex network. This collective nature of domain wall magnetism originates from the uncompensated Er3+ moments at domain walls and the self-organization of the vortex network. Our results demonstrate that the collective domain wall magnetism can be controlled by external magnetic fields and represent a major advancement in the manipulation of local magnetic moments by harnessing cross-coupled domain walls.
Display omitted
Molecular targets modulated by artemisinins in respiratory diseases.
Artemisinins are sesquiterpene lactones with a peroxide moiety that are isolated from the herb Artemisia annua. It ...has been used for centuries for the treatment of fever and chills, and has been recently approved for the treatment of malaria due to its endoperoxidase properties. Progressively, research has found that artemisinins displayed multiple pharmacological actions against inflammation, viral infections, and cell and tumour proliferation, making it effective against diseases. Moreover, it has displayed a relatively safe toxicity profile. The use of artemisinins against different respiratory diseases has been investigated in lung cancer models and inflammatory-driven respiratory disorders. These studies revealed the ability of artemisinins in attenuating proliferation, inflammation, invasion, and metastasis, and in inducing apoptosis. Artemisinins can regulate the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), promote cell cycle arrest, drive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and induce Bak or Bax-dependent or independent apoptosis. In this review, we aim to provide a comprehensive update of the current knowledge of the effects of artemisinins in relation to respiratory diseases to identify gaps that need to be filled in the course of repurposing artemisinins for the treatment of respiratory diseases. In addition, we postulate whether artemisinins can also be repurposed for the treatment of COVID-19 given its anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties.
Ferroelectric and magnetic materials are a time-honoured subject of study and have led to some of the most important technological advances to date. Magnetism and ferroelectricity are involved with ...local spins and off-centre structural distortions, respectively. These two seemingly unrelated phenomena can coexist in certain unusual materials, termed multiferroics. Despite the possible coexistence of ferroelectricity and magnetism, a pronounced interplay between these properties has rarely been observed. This has prevented the realization of multiferroic devices offering such functionality. Here, we report a striking interplay between ferroelectricity and magnetism in the multiferroic TbMn2O5, demonstrated by a highly reproducible electric polarization reversal and permanent polarization imprint that are both actuated by an applied magnetic field. Our results point to new device applications such as magnetically recorded ferroelectric memory.
We discovered stripe patterns of trimerization-ferroelectric domains in hexagonal REMnO(3) (RE=Ho,···,Lu) crystals (grown below ferroelectric transition temperatures (T(c)), reaching up to 1435 °C), ...in contrast with the vortex patterns in YMnO(3). These stripe patterns roughen with the appearance of numerous loop domains through thermal annealing just below T(c), but the stripe domain patterns turn to vortex-antivortex domain patterns through a freezing process when crystals cross T(c) even though the phase transition appears to not be Kosterlitz-Thouless-type. The experimental systematics are compared with the results of our six-state clock model simulation and also the Kibble-Zurek mechanism for trapped topological defects.
Electric control of magnetism and magnetic control of ferroelectricity can improve the energy efficiency of magnetic memory and data-processing devices1. However, the necessary magnetoelectric ...switching is hard to achieve, and requires more than just a coupling between the spin and the charge degrees of freedom2-5. Here we show that an application and subsequent removal of a magnetic field reverses the electric polarization of the multiferroic GdMn2O5, thus requiring two cycles to bring the system back to the original configuration. During this unusual hysteresis loop, four states with different magnetic configurations are visited by the system, with one half of all spins undergoing unidirectional full-circle rotation in increments of about 90 degrees. Therefore, GdMn2O5 acts as a magnetic crankshaft that converts the back-and-forth variations of the magnetic field into a circular spin motion. This peculiar four-state magnetoelectric switching emerges as a topologically protected boundary between different two-state switching regimes. Our findings establish a paradigm of topologically protected switching phenomena in ferroic materials.
PDF
