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arXiv · 2509.06508

Morphology of Polarization States in Strained Ferroelectric Films

Léo Boron·Anaïs Sené·Yuri Tikhonov·Anna Razumnaya·Igor Lukyanchuk·Svitlana Kondovych
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Abstract

Ferroelectric thin films under epitaxial strain exhibit a variety of vortex-like topological polarization textures. To analyze them, we build on the Ginzburg-Landau-Devonshire framework and extend the previously introduced soft-domain approach. This formulation provides a compact variational theoretical description of polarization morphologies in strained PbTiO$_3$ films. It yields phase diagrams as a function of temperature, strain, and thickness, and clarifies the morphological structure of emergent topological states. The method is computationally efficient and offers practical guidance for experimental studies of ferroelectric nanostructures.

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Léo Boron, Anaïs Sené, Yuri Tikhonov, Anna Razumnaya, Igor Lukyanchuk, Svitlana Kondovych. 2025-09-08. Morphology of Polarization States in Strained Ferroelectric Films. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.06508

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