Emergent domain topology in the multiferroic hexagonal manganites
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| author | Müller, Aaron Merlin Heckendorn, Lukas Fiebig, Manfred Lottermoser, Thomas |
| author_facet | Müller, Aaron Merlin Heckendorn, Lukas Fiebig, Manfred Lottermoser, Thomas |
| contents | Emergent topological phenomena in multiferroic materials arise from the intricate coupling between structural, electric, and magnetic order parameters. Hexagonal manganites provide a paradigmatic platform for such studies. These compounds exhibit a strongly coupled distortive-improper ferroelectric order, arising from trimerizing lattice distortions, and a 120° noncollinear antiferromagnetic spin structure. While their two-dimensional domain topology has been extensively studied, the full three-dimensional multiferroic domain architecture has remained largely unexplored, mainly due to the experimental challenges of probing bulk structures beyond surfaces. Here, we employ a Landau free-energy framework combined with large-scale phase-field simulations to reveal the intricate three-dimensional multiferroic domain network of hexagonal manganites. We demonstrate that the coupling between the structural and antiferromagnetic order parameters gives rise to a rich variety of three-dimensional topological features. In particular, these features give rise to an attraction between different types of domain walls. Moreover, we identify bifurcations of vortex-like lines at domain-wall intersections, a phenomenon that can exist only in three dimensions and fundamentally alters the topology of the domain network. Our results provide a comprehensive theoretical basis for understanding three-dimensional domain interactions in multiferroics and highlight the essential role of dimensionality in coupling improper ferroelectricity, magnetism, and topology in hexagonal manganites. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_13020 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Emergent domain topology in the multiferroic hexagonal manganites Müller, Aaron Merlin Heckendorn, Lukas Fiebig, Manfred Lottermoser, Thomas Materials Science Emergent topological phenomena in multiferroic materials arise from the intricate coupling between structural, electric, and magnetic order parameters. Hexagonal manganites provide a paradigmatic platform for such studies. These compounds exhibit a strongly coupled distortive-improper ferroelectric order, arising from trimerizing lattice distortions, and a 120° noncollinear antiferromagnetic spin structure. While their two-dimensional domain topology has been extensively studied, the full three-dimensional multiferroic domain architecture has remained largely unexplored, mainly due to the experimental challenges of probing bulk structures beyond surfaces. Here, we employ a Landau free-energy framework combined with large-scale phase-field simulations to reveal the intricate three-dimensional multiferroic domain network of hexagonal manganites. We demonstrate that the coupling between the structural and antiferromagnetic order parameters gives rise to a rich variety of three-dimensional topological features. In particular, these features give rise to an attraction between different types of domain walls. Moreover, we identify bifurcations of vortex-like lines at domain-wall intersections, a phenomenon that can exist only in three dimensions and fundamentally alters the topology of the domain network. Our results provide a comprehensive theoretical basis for understanding three-dimensional domain interactions in multiferroics and highlight the essential role of dimensionality in coupling improper ferroelectricity, magnetism, and topology in hexagonal manganites. |
| title | Emergent domain topology in the multiferroic hexagonal manganites |
| topic | Materials Science |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.13020 |