Intercorrelated In-Plane and Out-of-Plane Ferroelectricity in Ultrathin Two-Dimensional Layered Semiconductor In2Se3

Chaojie Cui, Wei Jin Hu*, Xingxu Yan, Christopher Addiego, Wenpei Gao, Yao Wang, Zhe Wang, Linze Li, Yingchun Cheng, Peng Li, Xixiang Zhang, Husam N. Alshareef, Tom Wu, Wenguang Zhu, Xiaoqing Pan, Lain Jong Li

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

566 Scopus citations

Abstract

Enriching the functionality of ferroelectric materials with visible-light sensitivity and multiaxial switching capability would open up new opportunities for their applications in advanced information storage with diverse signal manipulation functions. We report experimental observations of robust intralayer ferroelectricity in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals layered α-In2Se3 ultrathin flakes at room temperature. Distinct from other 2D and conventional ferroelectrics, In2Se3 exhibits intrinsically intercorrelated out-of-plane and in-plane polarization, where the reversal of the out-of-plane polarization by a vertical electric field also induces the rotation of the in-plane polarization. On the basis of the in-plane switchable diode effect and the narrow bandgap (∼1.3 eV) of ferroelectric In2Se3, a prototypical nonvolatile memory device, which can be manipulated both by electric field and visible light illumination, is demonstrated for advancing data storage technologies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1253-1258
Number of pages6
JournalNano Letters
Volume18
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 14 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Chemical Society.

Keywords

  • 2D materials
  • InSe
  • ferroelectric
  • semiconductor
  • switchable diode

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Bioengineering
  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanical Engineering

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