Continuously tunable ferroelectric domain width down to the single-atomic limit in bismuth tellurite

Mengjiao Han; Cong Wang; Kangdi Niu; Qishuo Yang; Chuanshou Wang; Xi Zhang; Junfeng Dai; Yujia Wang; Xiuliang Ma; Junling Wang; Lixing Kang; Wei Ji; Junhao Lin

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-33617-x

Continuously tunable ferroelectric domain width down to the single-atomic limit in bismuth tellurite

Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 6;13(1):5903. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33617-x.

Authors

Mengjiao Han^#^{1

2

3}, Cong Wang^#⁴, Kangdi Niu¹, Qishuo Yang¹, Chuanshou Wang¹, Xi Zhang⁵, Junfeng Dai⁶, Yujia Wang⁷, Xiuliang Ma^{3

8}, Junling Wang¹, Lixing Kang⁹, Wei Ji¹⁰, Junhao Lin^{11

12}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
² SEU-FEI Nano-Pico Center, Key Laboratory of MEMS of Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China.
³ Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong, 523808, China.
⁴ Beijing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Functional Materials & Micro-Nano Devices, Department of Physics, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China.
⁵ Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics (FSCFE), Shaanxi Institute of Flexible Electronics (SIFE) & Shaanxi Institute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering (SIBME), Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710129, China.
⁶ Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
⁷ Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China.
⁸ Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
⁹ Key Laboratory of Multifunctional Nanomaterials and Smart Systems, Division of Advanced Materials, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, 215123, China. lxkang2013@sinano.ac.cn.
¹⁰ Beijing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Functional Materials & Micro-Nano Devices, Department of Physics, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China. wji@ruc.edu.cn.
¹¹ Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China. linjh@sustech.edu.cn.
¹² Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China. linjh@sustech.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Emerging functionalities in two-dimensional materials, such as ferromagnetism, superconductivity and ferroelectricity, open new avenues for promising nanoelectronic applications. Here, we report the discovery of intrinsic in-plane room-temperature ferroelectricity in two-dimensional Bi₂TeO₅ grown by chemical vapor deposition, where spontaneous polarization originates from Bi column displacements. We found an intercalated buffer layer consist of mixed Bi/Te column as 180° domain wall which enables facile polarized domain engineering, including continuously tunable domain width by pinning different concentration of buffer layers, and even ferroelectric-antiferroelectric phase transition when the polarization unit is pinned down to single atomic column. More interestingly, the intercalated Bi/Te buffer layer can interconvert to polarized Bi columns which end up with series terraced domain walls and unusual fan-shaped ferroelectric domain. The buffer layer induced size and shape tunable ferroelectric domain in two-dimensional Bi₂TeO₅ offer insights into the manipulation of functionalities in van der Waals materials for future nanoelectronics.

Abstract

Grants and funding