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Relaxor ferroelectrics are a class of materials that are widely perceived asderiving their exotic properties from structural heterogeneities. Understandingthe microscopic origin of the superior electromechanical response requiresknowledge not only concerning the formation of polar nanodomains (PNDs) builtfrom individual atoms but more importantly the spatial distribution of PNDsover longer distances. The mesoscale PND arrangement is shaped by theinteractions between these domains and, in turn, dictates the electric-fielddriven PND response directly relevant to the macroscopic material properties.Here, we show the emergence of mesoscale lattice order that we name "polarlaminates" in the canonical relaxor ferroelectric0.68PbMg$_{1/3}$Nb$_{2/3}$O$_{3}$-0.32PbTiO$_{3}$ (PMN-0.32PT) using X-raycoherent nano-diffraction. These laminates are nematic with a size of ~350 nmand arise from the staggered arrangement of ~13 nm monoclinic PNDs along the<110> of the pseudocubic lattice. The spatial distribution of c-axis strain isdirectly correlated with the tilting of the PNDs and is most prominent betweenthe laminates. Further operando nano-diffraction studies demonstrateheterogeneous electric-field-driven responses. The most active regions tend toreside inside the laminates while the spatial pinning centers are between thelaminates. This observation reveals the hierarchical assembly of lattice orderas a novel form of electron and lattice self-organization in heterogenousmaterials and establishes the role of such mesoscale spatial arrangement inconnecting the nanoscale heterogeneity and macroscopic material properties.These findings provide a guiding principle for the design and optimization offuture relaxors and may shed light on the existence of similar behavior in awide range of quantum and functional materials.

Heterogeneous field response of hierarchical polar laminates in relaxor ferroelectrics