Creation and control of dynamical ferroelectric skyrmions via orbital angular momentum of light

Using first-principle-based effective Hamiltonian simulations, we show that the optical vortex beam can excite and drive dynamical electrical skyrmions in ferroelectric thin films. More specifically, skyrmions are created and annihilated alternately at the two interfaces, and experience a periodic transition from a markedly “Bloch” character to a “Néel” character with rotation of dipole components. The mechanism is very robust in the sense that skyrmions are well maintained under different conditions and are highly tunable by controlling external variables. Our study thus demonstrates that this unique light-matter interaction can be very powerful in creating and manipulating topological solitons in functional materials.

We acknowledge the support from the Grant MURI ETHOS W911NF-21-2-0162 from Army Research Office (ARO) and the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF) Grant No. N00014-20-1-2834 from the Department of Defense.