Multi-state Switching Dynamics in the Polar Vortex Phase

The recent discovery of ferroelectric vortices in PbTiO₃/SrTiO₃ heterostructures has opened the door to many novel phenomena such as control and manipulation of negative capacitance, chirality, toroidal moments, and collective dynamics. Here, we examined the electric field switching dynamics of the polar vortices; revealing the existence of multiple switching events which are correlated to a hierarchy of structural and polar switching events. We elucidate the nanosecond-scale dynamics and mechanism of the various switching events using traditional and time-resolved ferroelectric capacitance measurements in combination with in-situ imaging techniques. We also reveal how such multistate switching can potentially be used for non-destructive readout of the ferroelectric state.