Cooperative response of Pb(ZrTi)O₃ nanoparticles to curled electric fields

Using first-principles based effective Hamiltonian and finite temperature Monte Carlo simulations we investigate cooperative responses, as well as microscopic mechanism for vortex switching, in zero-dimensional Pb(Zr$_{0.5}$Ti$_{0.5}$)O$_3$ nanoparticles under curled electric fields. We find that the generally accepted domain coexistence mechanism is not valid for toroid switching. Instead dipoles are shown to display unusual collective behaviors by forming a new vortex with perpendicular (but not opposite) toroid moment. The strong correlation between the new and original vortices is revealed to be critical for reversing toroid moment. Microscopic insight for the puzzling collective response is discussed. Based on our finding, we further describe a technological approach that is able to drastically reduce the magnitude of the curled electric field needed for vortex switching.