Tunnel junctions based on interfacial two dimensional ferroelectrics.

Van der Waals heterostructures have opened new opportunities to develop atomically thin (opto)electronic devices with a wide range of functionalities. The recent focus on manipulating the interlayer twist angle has led to the observation of out-of-plane room temperature ferroelectricity in twisted rhombohedral bilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides. Here we explore the switching behaviour of sliding ferroelectricity using scanning probe microscopy domain mapping and tunnelling transport measurements. We observe well-pronounced ambipolar switching behaviour in ferroelectric tunnelling junctions with composite ferroelectric/non-polar insulator barriers and support our experimental results with complementary theoretical modelling. Furthermore, we show that the switching behaviour is strongly influenced by the underlying domain structure, allowing the fabrication of diverse ferroelectric tunnelling junction devices with various functionalities. We show that to observe the polarisation reversal, at least one partial dislocation must be present in the device area. This behaviour is drastically different from that of conventional ferroelectric materials, and its understanding is an important milestone for the future development of optoelectronic devices based on sliding ferroelectricity.

Interfacial ferroelectricity in marginally twisted 2D semiconductors.

Twisted heterostructures of two-dimensional crystals offer almost unlimited scope for the design of new metamaterials. Here we demonstrate a room temperature ferroelectric semiconductor that is assembled using mono- or few-layer MoS2. These van der Waals heterostructures feature broken inversion symmetry, which, together with the asymmetry of atomic arrangement at the interface of two 2D crystals, enables ferroelectric domains with alternating out-of-plane polarization arranged into a twist-controlled network. The last can be moved by applying out-of-plane electrical fields, as visualized in situ using channelling contrast electron microscopy. The observed interfacial charge transfer, movement of domain walls and their bending rigidity agree well with theoretical calculations. Furthermore, we demonstrate proof-of-principle field-effect transistors, where the channel resistance exhibits a pronounced hysteresis governed by pinning of ferroelectric domain walls. Our results show a potential avenue towards room temperature electronic and optoelectronic semiconductor devices with built-in ferroelectric memory functions.