Large‐Scale Optical Manipulation of Ferroelectric Domains in PMN‐PT Crystals

Abstract The manipulation of ferroelectric domains is a bridge connecting the basic research and the applications of ferroelectric materials. Here, after cooling across the Curie temperature under ultraviolet (UV) light illumination, out‐of‐plane (OP) polarization of a whole 0.72Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 ‐0.28PbTiO 3 (PMN‐28PT) crystal is poled in one direction. With the help of light‐dependent temporal Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM), the unified upward OP polarization is attributed to the negative charge accumulation at the surface upon exposure to UV light, which is also effective in the control of in‐plane (IP) polarization. Especially, a center‐convergent topological domain structure is formed in a PMN‐28PT crystal lamella via an optical method, which is easily engineered to fabricate large‐scale periodic arrays. This method is expected for high efficiency, low energy consumption, and large‐scale domain manipulation in ferroelectric materials.