Discovery of robust in-plane ferroelectricity in atomic-thick SnTe

Kai Chang; Junwei Liu; Haicheng Lin; Na Wang; Kun Zhao; Anmin Zhang; Feng Jin; Yong Zhong; Xiaopeng Hu; Wenhui Duan; Qingming Zhang; Liang Fu; Qi-Kun Xue; Xi Chen; Shuai-Hua Ji

doi:10.1126/science.aad8609

Discovery of robust in-plane ferroelectricity in atomic-thick SnTe

Science. 2016 Jul 15;353(6296):274-8. doi: 10.1126/science.aad8609.

Authors

Kai Chang¹, Junwei Liu², Haicheng Lin¹, Na Wang¹, Kun Zhao¹, Anmin Zhang³, Feng Jin³, Yong Zhong¹, Xiaopeng Hu¹, Wenhui Duan¹, Qingming Zhang⁴, Liang Fu⁵, Qi-Kun Xue¹, Xi Chen⁶, Shuai-Hua Ji⁷

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
² Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China.
³ Department of Physics, Beijing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Functional Materials and Micro-Nano Devices, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China.
⁴ Department of Physics, Beijing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Functional Materials and Micro-Nano Devices, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China. Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
⁵ Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China. xc@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn shji@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100084, China. RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan. xc@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn shji@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.

PMID: 27418506
DOI: 10.1126/science.aad8609

Abstract

Stable ferroelectricity with high transition temperature in nanostructures is needed for miniaturizing ferroelectric devices. Here, we report the discovery of the stable in-plane spontaneous polarization in atomic-thick tin telluride (SnTe), down to a 1-unit cell (UC) limit. The ferroelectric transition temperature T(c) of 1-UC SnTe film is greatly enhanced from the bulk value of 98 kelvin and reaches as high as 270 kelvin. Moreover, 2- to 4-UC SnTe films show robust ferroelectricity at room temperature. The interplay between semiconducting properties and ferroelectricity in this two-dimensional material may enable a wide range of applications in nonvolatile high-density memories, nanosensors, and electronics.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.