Published in

Nature Research, Nature Communications, 1(12), 2021

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21019-4

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Ferroelectric columnar assemblies from the bowl-to-bowl inversion of aromatic cores

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

AbstractOrganic ferroelectrics, in which the constituent molecules retain remanent polarization, represent an important topic in condensed-matter science, and their attractive properties, which include lightness, flexibility, and non-toxicity, are of potential use in state-of-the-art ferroelectric devices. However, the mechanisms for the generation of ferroelectricity in such organic compounds remain limited to a few representative concepts, which has hitherto severely hampered progress in this area. Here, we demonstrate that a bowl-to-bowl inversion of a relatively small organic molecule with a bowl-shaped π-aromatic core generates ferroelectric dipole relaxation. The present results thus reveal an unprecedented concept to produce ferroelectricity in small organic molecules, which can be expected to strongly impact materials science.