Exploring the frontiers of material science, the TOPTOP research project led by Fernando Gómez Ortiz at the University of Liège aims to revolutionize our understanding of polar topologies, paving the way for innovative technological applications in nanoelectronics.
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n recent years, scientists have discovered a new world within oxide nanostructures, revealing exotic topological polar textures like vortices, skyrmions, merons, and hopfions. These unique states hold remarkable properties, such as negative capacitance, chirality, and ultra-fast dynamic responses, which could transform various technologies. Notably, because these polar textures are metastable, they are non-volatile, meaning they could potentially serve as multi-weight elements in artificial neuromorphic synapses, thus mimicking how the human brain functions.
Fernando Gómez Ortiz who holds a PhD in science, has joined the University of Liège as a F.R.S.-FNRS and MSCA-PF research fellow to develop his TOPTOP (Tailoring of Polar Topologies with Optical Pulses) project and pursue his advanced research in theoretical chemistry and computational modelling. Funded by the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research and the European Union through the Horizon Europe MSCA program, his research involves creating atomic-scale simulations to understand and control how topological phases in materials respond to electric pulses. These simulations capture all structural degrees of freedom to deterministically adjust the polar ordering of these materials, thus offering a comprehensive, quantum-mechanical approach to the issue.
"One of the goals of my research is to achieve precise and deterministic control over these textures using specially designed electromagnetic pulses," explains Gómez Ortiz. "Imagine manipulating material properties in the same way that microwaves heat food particles – that’s the kind of selective interaction we’re aiming for, but on an infinitely smaller scale." His research is being conducted within the Q-Mat lab, led by Prof. Philippe Ghosez, an expert in phonon analysis. Moreover, essential collaborations with experimental teams at University College London (UCL) and the University of Geneva (UNIGE) aim to validate theoretical models and increase the project’s technology readiness level, bringing it closer to potential practical applications.
Revolutionizing Nanoelectronics
Controlling polar ordering could transform the functionality of materials, enabling the design of a new generation of more efficient nanoelectronic devices. "This work aligns with current trends in material science, which emphasize not only the discovery of unique material properties but also the ability to harness and control these properties for practical applications." This research could enable controlled manipulation of polar topologies, opening the door to unprecedented applications in neuromorphic computing and beyond.
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