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Reactive polar mesogenic self-assembly approach enables domain-programmable polymer ferroelectrics
Authors:
Fan Ye,
Minghui Deng,
Yuyang Zheng,
Xiujuan Liu,
Xiuhu Zhao,
Haowei Jiang,
Yanyun Hou,
Bingyu Zou,
Neng-Ang Peng,
Shuo Zhao,
Kutay Sağdıç,
Danqing Liu,
Yang Shen,
Yan-Qing Lu,
Satoshi Aya,
Mingjun Huang
Abstract:
Ferroelectric polymers combine switchable polarization with the processability of soft materials, but their development has been dominated by poly(vinylidene fluoride) and related fluoropolymers, whose crystalline polar phases restrict mechanical compliance and domain design with spatial precision. Here we establish a generic design principle for creating intrinsically flexible ferroelectric liqui…
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Ferroelectric polymers combine switchable polarization with the processability of soft materials, but their development has been dominated by poly(vinylidene fluoride) and related fluoropolymers, whose crystalline polar phases restrict mechanical compliance and domain design with spatial precision. Here we establish a generic design principle for creating intrinsically flexible ferroelectric liquid-crystal polymers through reactive polar mesogenic self-assembly. The approach creates polyfluoroalkyl-free polymer films in which robust ferroelectric order arises from liquid-crystalline molecular organization rather than crystalline phase formation. By transferring ferroelectric order from fluid mesogenic states into polymer networks, the resulting materials combine mechanical adaptability with programmable polar architectures. Especially, the photoalignment technology enables these polar states to be organized into pixelated domain architectures. This work establishes a design space towards soft ferroelectric polymers that integrate molecularly programmed polar order, mechanical tunability and environmentally conscious chemistry, expanding the design space of adaptive materials for flexible electronics, wearable systems and soft robotics.
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Submitted 8 August, 2026;
originally announced August 2026.
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Transition from antiferromagnets to altermagnets: Symmetry-Breaking Theory
Authors:
P. Zhou,
X. N. Peng,
Y. Z. Hu,
B. R. Pan,
S. M. Liu,
Pengbo Lyu,
L. Z. Sun
Abstract:
Considering the similarity of the real-space configurations for the opposite spin sublattices in both antiferromagnets (AFM) and altermagnets (AM), the relationship between them should be profound. In this work, we demonstrate that AFM and AM can be connected with spin groups and their subgroups. Consequently, the breaking of the combined inversion or translation operation with time-reversal symme…
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Considering the similarity of the real-space configurations for the opposite spin sublattices in both antiferromagnets (AFM) and altermagnets (AM), the relationship between them should be profound. In this work, we demonstrate that AFM and AM can be connected with spin groups and their subgroups. Consequently, the breaking of the combined inversion or translation operation with time-reversal symmetry (PT or tT) in AFM will induce transition from AFM to AM. We systematically list all collinear spin point groups and space groups that can realize the transition for the three types of AFMs: PT-type, tT-type and PT-tT-type. Moreover, we propose that Floquet engineering using circularly polarized light and surface cutting engineering are effective approaches to break PT and tT symmetries of AFM, respectively, achieving the transition. Interestingly, the features and magnitude of altermagnetic spin splitting can be tuned by adjusting various parameters of Floquet engineering. Our work not only establishes a theoretical framework for the transition from AFM to AM, but also provides practical approaches utilizing the achievements in AFM for a hundred years to obtain AM, significantly expanding the scope of altermagnetic materials for both theoretical studies and future practical applications.
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Submitted 14 October, 2025; v1 submitted 23 October, 2024;
originally announced October 2024.
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Irradiation Enhanced paramagnetism on graphene nanoflakes
Authors:
Andreas Ney,
Pagona Papakonstantinou,
Ajay Kumar,
Nai-Gui Shang,
Nianhua Peng
Abstract:
We have studied the magnetization of vertically aligned graphene nanoflakes irradiated with nitrogen ions of 100 KeV energy and doses in the range 10^11- 10^17 ions/cm2. The non-irradiated graphene nanoflakes show a paramagnetic contribution, which is increased progressively by ion irradiation at low doses up to 10^15 /cm^2. However, further increase on implantation dose reduces the magnetic momen…
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We have studied the magnetization of vertically aligned graphene nanoflakes irradiated with nitrogen ions of 100 KeV energy and doses in the range 10^11- 10^17 ions/cm2. The non-irradiated graphene nanoflakes show a paramagnetic contribution, which is increased progressively by ion irradiation at low doses up to 10^15 /cm^2. However, further increase on implantation dose reduces the magnetic moment which coincides with the onset of amorphization as verified by both Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic data. Overall, our results demonstrate the absence of ferromagnetism on either implanted or unimplanted samples from room temperature down to a temperature of 5K
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Submitted 7 September, 2011;
originally announced September 2011.
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Josephson effects in MgB2 meta masked ion damage junctions
Authors:
D. -J. Kang,
N. H. Peng,
R. Webb,
C. Jeynes,
J. H. Yun,
S. H. Moon,
D. Oh,
G. Burnell,
E. J. Tarte,
D. F. Moore,
M. G. Blamire
Abstract:
Ion beam damage combined with nanoscale focused ion beam direct milling was used to create manufacturable SNS type Josephson junctions in 100 nm thick MgB$_{2}$ with T$_{C}$ of 38 K. The junctions show non-hysteretic current - voltage characteristics between 36 and 4.2 K. Experimental evidence for the dc and ac Josephson effects in MgB$_{2}$ metal masked ion damage junctions are presented. This…
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Ion beam damage combined with nanoscale focused ion beam direct milling was used to create manufacturable SNS type Josephson junctions in 100 nm thick MgB$_{2}$ with T$_{C}$ of 38 K. The junctions show non-hysteretic current - voltage characteristics between 36 and 4.2 K. Experimental evidence for the dc and ac Josephson effects in MgB$_{2}$ metal masked ion damage junctions are presented. This technique is particularly useful for prototyping devices due to its simplicity and flexibility of fabrication and has a great potential for high-density integration.
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Submitted 12 June, 2002;
originally announced June 2002.