title: Characteristics of ferroelectric-ferroelastic domains in Néel-type skyrmion host GaV4S8.
abstract: GaV4S8is a multiferroic semiconductor hosting Néel-type magnetic skyrmions dressed with electric polarization. At Ts= 42 K, the compound undergoes a structural phase transition of weakly first-order, from a non-centrosymmetric cubic phase at high temperatures to a polar rhombohedral structure at low temperatures. Below Ts, ferroelectric domains are formed with the electric polarization pointing along any of the four 〈111〉 axes. Although in this material the size and the shape of the ferroelectric-ferroelastic domains may act as important limiting factors in the formation of the Néel-type skyrmion lattice emerging below TC= 13 K, the characteristics of polar domains in GaV4S8have not been studied yet. Here, we report on the inspection of the local-scale ferroelectric domain distribution in rhombohedral GaV4S8using low-temperature piezoresponse force microscopy. We observed mechanically and electrically compatible lamellar domain patterns, where the lamellae are aligned parallel to the (100)-type planes with a typical spacing between 100 nm-1.2 μm. Since the magnetic pattern, imaged by atomic force microscopy using a magnetically coated tip, abruptly changes at the domain boundaries, we expect that the control of ferroelectric domain size in polar skyrmion hosts can be exploited for the spatial confinement and manipulation of Néel-type skyrmions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and MTA-BME Lendület Magneto-optical Spectroscopy Research Group, 1111 Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Ádám
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Butykai
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and MTA-BME Lendület Magneto-optical Spectroscopy Research Group, 1111 Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Sándor
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bordács
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and MTA-BME Lendület Magneto-optical Spectroscopy Research Group, 1111 Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kézsmárki
authors.affiliation: Experimental Physics V, Center for Electronic Correlations and Magnetism, University of Augsburg, 86135 Augsburg, Germany.|Institute of Applied Physics, Academy of Sciences of Moldova, MD 2028, Chisinau, Republica Moldova.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tsurkan
authors.affiliation: Experimental Physics V, Center for Electronic Correlations and Magnetism, University of Augsburg, 86135 Augsburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Alois
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loidl
authors.affiliation: Institut für Angewandte Physik, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Döring
authors.affiliation: Institut für Angewandte Physik, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Neuber
authors.affiliation: Institut für Angewandte Physik, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Milde
authors.affiliation: Institut für Angewandte Physik, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Susanne C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kehr
authors.affiliation: Institut für Angewandte Physik, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.|Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden cfaed, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Lukas M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Eng