Physics

Chiral anomaly

Dipole

Strontium titanate

Magnetization

Skyrmion

Magnetic field

Superlattice

Multiferroics

Chirality (physics)

Dielectric

Physical chemistry

Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model

Chemistry

Materials science

Polarization (electrochemistry)

Condensed matter physics

Fermion

Quantum mechanics

Optoelectronics

Ferroelectricity

Polarization density

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Significance Many natural structures exhibit chirality that is essential to their functional interactions, yet the chiral electronic structures found in condensed matter systems have been primarily limited to magnetic materials. Notably, the electric dipole equivalent of magnetic skyrmions has remained conspicuously elusive. However, recent theoretical predictions and experimental observations of the continuous rotation of electric polarization in titanate superlattices suggests that such complex oxide nanocomposites are ideal candidates for realizing chiral electric dipole configurations. Here we present the results from superlattices of PbTiO 3 and SrTiO 3 using a combination of resonant soft X-ray diffraction and second-principles simulations. We observe chiral arrays of polar line defects, spontaneously formed by the complex interactions in these artificial superlattices constructed from two nonchiral lattices.

Emergent chirality in the electric polarization texture of titanate superlattices