Self-charged polar nematic monopoles and hybrid topological states: intertwining and domain integration

Self-charged polar nematic monopoles and hybrid topological states: intertwining and domain integration | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Self-charged polar nematic monopoles and hybrid topological states: intertwining and domain integration Satoshi AYA, Yu Zou, Jidan Yang, Zhongjie Ma, Zening Hong, Aile Sun, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8214269/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Polar topological solitons are quasi-particles essential in condensed matter physics, with a key challenge being their topological diversification, control, and arrangement. This study demonstrates that confinement asymmetry can tailor and diversify topological electrically-polar solitons in fluid ferroelectrics, being a key pathway for solving the long-standing problem in designing large-scale and complicated domain structures. We discover nonclassical electric monopoles and hybrid topological states, including chiral meron and anti-meron variants and their higher-order hybridization with a nested skyrmion core. They exhibit intrinsic self-charge, interacting through nematic elasticity and electric polar interactions. The unique mechanism leads to the formation of multibody topological superstructures by intertwining their polar flux. We propose utilizing solitonic structures as fundamental quasi-particles for designing large-scale charged arrays in insulating fluids, which function as local conductors. The self-organization offers an unprecedented opportunity for realizing large-scale engineering of in-plane domain structures that were previously unachievable in traditional ferroelectrics. Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Ferroelectrics and multiferroics Physical sciences/Materials science/Soft materials/Liquid crystals Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMovie1.mp4 Supplementary Movie 1 SupplementaryMovie2.mp4 Supplementary Movie 2 SupplementaryMovie3.mp4 Supplementary Movie 3 SupplementaryMovie4.mp4 Supplementary Movie 4 SupplementaryMovie5.mp4 Supplementary Movie 5 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8214269","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":568898006,"identity":"b3f17f4f-7c8f-41b4-a2f6-2043265232d9","order_by":0,"name":"Satoshi AYA","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA8ElEQVRIie2OsQrCMBRFEwp1qbimCOonPCmIi/grStYKTo7iFBers39RF+nYTi7BrhktBScHwcWAg6na0bajYM7w8gL38C5CGs2vghdETSP8fEdleSNXzCwKlZVssaCa0l7GUSKDfhsO/HaV7IEaNReQDL4rwKnh1Dnp+nyytz0GyF5dAHu8QEHUbGJGsB9O9gZWCggX1FJQbJOatmRk6MeX9JYpwzIFCWqSOiNjX7io+bpCShQQqeMohW7FuWevjo5F+HkaeYXFxkki2Xywjml6vc9arcaS7k6yqFhOJ3y/VjbCCoI6t6gU02g0mn/kCWA6UHofZ5EMAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5873-1701","institution":"South China University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Satoshi","middleName":"","lastName":"AYA","suffix":""},{"id":568898007,"identity":"51139869-8984-40a4-88da-9ceadcd3ee50","order_by":1,"name":"Yu Zou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"[email protected]","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yu","middleName":"","lastName":"Zou","suffix":""},{"id":568898008,"identity":"3c37f187-021b-42e7-b512-fe1b04194b0a","order_by":2,"name":"Jidan Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"South China University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jidan","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":568898009,"identity":"ca4a48af-1114-40f0-90d2-fb1d5ddb740e","order_by":3,"name":"Zhongjie Ma","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Southern University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhongjie","middleName":"","lastName":"Ma","suffix":""},{"id":568898010,"identity":"0c249c4b-b1f4-4c79-8c5c-853b6ea01404","order_by":4,"name":"Zening Hong","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Southern University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zening","middleName":"","lastName":"Hong","suffix":""},{"id":568898011,"identity":"419c8a65-45f0-4be6-9125-5429bcab26c5","order_by":5,"name":"Aile Sun","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Southern University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aile","middleName":"","lastName":"Sun","suffix":""},{"id":568898012,"identity":"ec1e3166-ec86-458f-8fc5-3c3e9d3a27ed","order_by":6,"name":"Xiang Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"South China University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiang","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":568898013,"identity":"f09be907-352e-4b03-b6ec-e8903207146c","order_by":7,"name":"Minghui Deng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"South China University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Minghui","middleName":"","lastName":"Deng","suffix":""},{"id":568898014,"identity":"19cf2b2c-84e7-4974-a1fe-2413c2eb1818","order_by":8,"name":"Mingjun Huang","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4299-5750","institution":"South China University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mingjun","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":568898015,"identity":"d574c716-21d2-4ab2-a920-854e7341280d","order_by":9,"name":"Qi-Huo Wei","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Southern University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qi-Huo","middleName":"","lastName":"Wei","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-26 15:02:06","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8214269/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8214269/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":99664989,"identity":"e679e843-5e3b-4c45-b303-a8dbff1c461b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-07 05:09:55","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":5684389,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SingleFileManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8214269/v1/6cc7660cd4f02e5b24fed3fa.pdf"},{"id":99664983,"identity":"05aa91d0-6ece-4937-b740-e15e3d8da033","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-07 05:09:55","extension":"json","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":10472,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"NCOMMS25103253T.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8214269/v1/4d8f46cc86a15aad45556773.json"},{"id":99804880,"identity":"f1e99041-c776-4de8-923b-a15b87002c5c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-08 14:14:37","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":4413699,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"SingleFileManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8214269/v1_covered_1fa1cd63-5afb-4a34-aa7a-c9a3e9896429.pdf"},{"id":99795847,"identity":"b9ab12e8-7700-419c-9a2c-5dbc2426c2ad","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-08 13:39:49","extension":"mp4","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":3449605,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Movie 1","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryMovie1.mp4","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8214269/v1/e93af6484ee06f9e01162cff.mp4"},{"id":99664984,"identity":"d7437ef9-b7d5-49f8-a207-eb0e90a114cf","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-07 05:09:55","extension":"mp4","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":5064693,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSupplementary Movie 2\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryMovie2.mp4","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8214269/v1/4b5cd37ccfeebdadccb509b5.mp4"},{"id":99794974,"identity":"24e4a593-d8b3-4661-bc79-86b865f60f7a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-08 13:36:45","extension":"mp4","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":4105773,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSupplementary Movie 3\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryMovie3.mp4","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8214269/v1/e53b51e1b154b726a0a7350f.mp4"},{"id":99664987,"identity":"f288baa7-04b9-4c98-80da-20ed7d8f796f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-07 05:09:55","extension":"mp4","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":5220698,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSupplementary Movie 4\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryMovie4.mp4","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8214269/v1/4950930cb489175e59baec41.mp4"},{"id":99664985,"identity":"7beb26b4-8099-488b-a824-905fd6f8672e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-07 05:09:55","extension":"mp4","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":5041920,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSupplementary Movie 5\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryMovie5.mp4","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8214269/v1/78415d971c603e96fb886cfc.mp4"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Self-charged polar nematic monopoles and hybrid topological states: intertwining and domain integration","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8214269/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8214269/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Polar topological solitons are quasi-particles essential in condensed matter physics, with a key challenge being their topological diversification, control, and arrangement. This study demonstrates that confinement asymmetry can tailor and diversify topological electrically-polar solitons in fluid ferroelectrics, being a key pathway for solving the long-standing problem in designing large-scale and complicated domain structures. We discover nonclassical electric monopoles and hybrid topological states, including chiral meron and anti-meron variants and their higher-order hybridization with a nested skyrmion core. They exhibit intrinsic self-charge, interacting through nematic elasticity and electric polar interactions. The unique mechanism leads to the formation of multibody topological superstructures by intertwining their polar flux. We propose utilizing solitonic structures as fundamental quasi-particles for designing large-scale charged arrays in insulating fluids, which function as local conductors. The self-organization offers an unprecedented opportunity for realizing large-scale engineering of in-plane domain structures that were previously unachievable in traditional ferroelectrics.","manuscriptTitle":"Self-charged polar nematic monopoles and hybrid topological states: intertwining and domain integration","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-07 05:09:50","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8214269/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"930e9810-6578-43c2-9345-4592e8c8558f","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 7th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":60533193,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Ferroelectrics and multiferroics"},{"id":60533194,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Soft materials/Liquid crystals"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-13T08:01:08+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-07 05:09:50","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8214269","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8214269","identity":"rs-8214269","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}