Nature Communications (May 2024)

Atomic-level polarization reversal in sliding ferroelectric semiconductors

  • Fengrui Sui,
  • Haoyang Li,
  • Ruijuan Qi,
  • Min Jin,
  • Zhiwei Lv,
  • Menghao Wu,
  • Xuechao Liu,
  • Yufan Zheng,
  • Beituo Liu,
  • Rui Ge,
  • Yu-Ning Wu,
  • Rong Huang,
  • Fangyu Yue,
  • Junhao Chu,
  • Chungang Duan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-48218-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Abstract Intriguing “slidetronics” has been reported in van der Waals (vdW) layered non-centrosymmetric materials and newly-emerging artificially-tuned twisted moiré superlattices, but correlative experiments that spatially track the interlayer sliding dynamics at atomic-level remain elusive. Here, we address the decisive challenge to in-situ trace the atomic-level interlayer sliding and the induced polarization reversal in vdW-layered yttrium-doped γ-InSe, step by step and atom by atom. We directly observe the real-time interlayer sliding by a 1/3-unit cell along the armchair direction, corresponding to vertical polarization reversal. The sliding driven only by low energetic electron-beam illumination suggests rather low switching barriers. Additionally, we propose a new sliding mechanism that supports the observed reversal pathway, i.e., two bilayer units slide towards each other simultaneously. Our insights into the polarization reversal via the atomic-scale interlayer sliding provide a momentous initial progress for the ongoing and future research on sliding ferroelectrics towards non-volatile storages or ferroelectric field-effect transistors.