We demonstrate a 2D ferroelectric heterostructure with monolayer MoSe$_2$ and CuInP$_2$S$_6$ (CIPS). In the heterostructure, the electric polarization of CIPS results in c electronic modulation in monolayer MoSe$_2$.
Van der Waals (vdW) layered materials have rather weaker interlayer bonding than the intra-layer bonding, therefore the exfoliation along the stacking direction enables the achievement of monolayer or few layers vdW materials with emerging novel physical properties and functionalities. The ferroelectricity in vdW materials recently attracts renewed interest for the potential use in high-density storage devices. As the thickness going thinner, the competition between the surface energy, depolarization field and interfacial chemical bonds may give rise to the modification of ferroelectricity and…
2D layered ferroelectric materials such as CuInP$_2$S6 (CIPS) are promising candidates for novel and high-performance photocatalysts, owning to their ultrathin layer thickness, strong interlayer coupling, and intrinsic spontaneous polarization, while how to control the photocatalytic activity in layered CIPS remains unexplored. In this work, we report for the first time the photocatalytic activity of ferroelectric CIPS for the chemical deposition of silver nanostructures (AgNSs). The results show that the shape and spatial distribution of AgNSs on CIPS are tunable by controlling layer thicknes…
In this article mixed CuInP$_2$(S$_x$Se$_{1-x}$)$_6$ crystals were investigated by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (20 Hz - 3 GHz). The complete phase diagram has been obtained from these results. The phase diagram of investigated crystals is strongly asymmetric - the decreasing of ferroelectric phase transition temperatures in CuInP$_2$(S$_x$Se$_{1-x}$)$_6$ is much more flat with small admixture of sulphur then with small admixture of selenium. In the middle part of the phase diagram (x=0.4-0.9) the dipolar glass phase has been observed. In boundary region between ferroelectric order and di…
A material with reversible temperature change capability under an external electric field, known as the electrocaloric effect (ECE), has long been considered as a promising solid-state cooling solution. However, electrocaloric (EC) performance of EC materials generally is not sufficiently high for real cooling applications. As a result, exploring EC materials with high performance is of great interest and importance. Here, we report on the ECE of ferroelectric materials with van der Waals layered structure (CuInP2S6 or CIPS in this work in particular). Over 60% polarization charge change is ob…
Two-dimensional ferroelectrics (FEs) are promising in the miniaturization of memory devices with ultra-high-density data storage and low power consumption. However, many thiophosphate monolayers, i.e., analogs of CuInP$_2$S$_6$ and referred to as ABP$_2$X$_6$, lose ferroelectricity and instead exhibit an antiferroelectric (AFE) or paraelectric ordering. We propose to tune the AFE ABP$_2$X$_6$ monolayers into the FE ordering through interface engineering. The mechanism is that there are couplings between the charge polarizations of the ABP$_2$X$_6$ monolayers and the local dipoles as well as th…
Ferroelectrics that are also ionic conductors offer possibilities for novel applications with high tunability, especially if the same atomic species causes both phenomena. In particular, at temperatures just below the Curie temperature, polarized states may be sustainable as the mobile species is driven in a controlled way over the energy barrier that governs ionic conduction, resulting in unique control of the polarization. This possibility was recently demonstrated in CuInP2S6, a layered ferroelectric ionic conductor in which Cu ions cause both ferroelectricity and ionic conduction. Here, we…
Using Landau-Ginsburg-Devonshire approach and available experimental results we reconstruct the thermodynamic potential of the layered ferroelectric CuInP$_2$S$_6$ (CIPS), which is expected to be applicable a wide range of temperatures and applied pressures. The analysis of temperature dependences of the dielectric permittivity and lattice constants for different applied pressures unexpectedly reveals the critically important role of the nonlinear electrostriction in this material. With the nonlinear electrostriction included we calculated temperature and pressure phase diagrams and spontaneou…
Layered multi-ferroic materials exhibit a variety of functional properties that can be tuned by varying the temperature and pressure. As-synthesized CuInP$_2$S$_6$ is a layered material that displays ferrielectric behavior at room temperature. When synthesized with Cu deficiencies, CuInP$_2$S$_6$ spontaneously phase segregates to form ferrielectric CuInP$_2$S$_6$ (CIPS) and paraelectric In$_{4/3}$P$_2$S$_6$ (IPS) domains in a two-dimensional self-assembled heterostructure. Here, we study the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the structure of Cu-deficient CuInP$_2$S$_6$ by Raman spectroscopy me…
The van der Waals layered material CuInP2S6 features interesting functional behavior, including the existence of four uniaxial polarization states, polarization reversal against the electric field through Cu ion migration, a negative-capacitance regime, and reversible extraction of Cu ions. At the heart of these characteristics lies the high mobility of Cu ions, which also determines the spontaneous polarization. Therefore, Cu migration across the lattice results in unusual ferroelectric behavior. Here, we demonstrate how the interplay of polar and ionic properties provides a path to ionically…
In this work, we demonstrate high performance indium-tin-oxide (ITO) transistors with the channel thickness down to 1 nm and ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 as gate dielectric. On-current of 0.243 A/mm is achieved on sub-micron gate-length ITO transistors with a channel thickness of 1 nm, while it increases to as high as 1.06 A/mm when the channel thickness increases to 2 nm. A raised source/drain structure with a thickness of 10 nm is employed, contributing to a low contact resistance of 0.15 Ωmm and a low contact resistivity of 1.1{\times}10-7 Ωcm2. The ITO transistor with a recessed channel and …
Doping ferroelectrics with carriers is often detrimental to polarization. This makes the design and discovery of metals that undergo a ferroelectric-like transition challenging. In this letter, we show from first principles that the oxygen octahedral rotations in perovskites are often enhanced by electron doping, and this can be used as a means to strengthen the structural polarization in certain hybrid-improper ferroelectrics -- compounds in which the polarization is not stabilized by the long range Coulomb interactions but is instead induced by a trilinear coupling to octahedral rotations. W…
Multilayers based on quantum materials (complex oxides, topological insulators, transition-metal dichalcogenides, etc) have enabled the design of devices that could revolutionize microelectronics and optoelectronics. However, heterostructures incorporating quantum materials from different families remain scarce, while they would immensely broaden the range of possible applications. Here we demonstrate the large-scale integration of compounds from two highly-multifunctional families: perovskite oxides and transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). We couple BiFeO$_3$, a room-temperature multiferr…
Reversible and nonvolatile manipulation of the spin-orbit interaction in ferroelectric field-effect transistors based on a two-dimensional bismuth oxychalcogenide
A transition in source-drain current vs back gate voltage ID - VBG characteristics from extrinsic polar molecule dominant hysteresis to anti-hysteresis induced by an oxygen deficient surface layer that is intrinsic to the ferroelectric thin films has been observed on graphene field-effect transistors on Pb0.92La0.08Zr0.52Ti0.48O3 gates GFET/PLZT-Gate during a vacuum annealing process developed to systematically remove the polar molecules adsorbed on the GFET channel surface. This allows detangle of the extrinsic and intrinsic hysteresis on GFET/PLZT-gate devices and detection of the dynamic sw…