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arXiv · 2509.24969

Nanoscale Polar Landscapes in Quantum Paraelectric SrTiO3

Yang Zhang·Suk Hyun Sung·Nishkarsh Agarwal·Maya Gates·Cong Li·Pu Yu·Robert Hovden·Ismail El Baggari
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Abstract

SrTiO3 is a textbook quantum paraelectric, with ferroelectricity purportedly suppressed by quantum fluctuations of ionic positions down to the lowest temperatures. The precise real space structure of SrTiO3 at low temperature, however, has remained undefined despite decades of study. Here we directly image the low-temperature polar structure of quantum parelectric SrTiO3, using cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscopy down to 20 K. High resolution imaging reveals a spatially fluctuating landscape of nanoscale domains of finite polarization. The short-range polar domains first grow and self-organize into a periodic structure over tens of nanometers. However, the process reverses when entering the quantum paraelectric regime below 40 K and the periodically ordered polar nanodomains fragment into small clusters.

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Yang Zhang, Suk Hyun Sung, Nishkarsh Agarwal, Maya Gates, Cong Li, Pu Yu, Robert Hovden, Ismail El Baggari. 2026-05-29. Nanoscale Polar Landscapes in Quantum Paraelectric SrTiO3. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10823-x

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