A first-principles-based effective Hamiltonian technique is used to investigate the interplay between geometrical frustration and the ordering of topological defects in a ferroelectric nanocomposite consisting of a square array of ${\mathrm{BaTiO}}_3$ nanowires embedded in a ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{0.15}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{0.85}{\mathrm{TiO}}_3$ matrix. Different arrangements of the wires’ chiralities geometrically frustrate the matrix, which in response exhibits point topological defects featuring self-assembled ordered structures spatially fluctuating down to the lowest temperatures. These fluctuations thereby endow the system with residual configurational entropy from which many properties characteristic of geometric frustration, such as the ground state degeneracy and the broadness of the dielectric response, are further found to originate.

• Received 28 July 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.117603