Electronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene moiré superlattices
Abstract Extending ferroelectric materials to two-dimensional limit provides versatile applications for the development of next-generation nonvolatile devices. Conventional ferroelectricity requires materials consisting of at least two constituent elements associated with polar crystalline structure...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55281-z |
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| author | Le Zhang Jing Ding Hanxiao Xiang Naitian Liu Wenqiang Zhou Linfeng Wu Na Xin Kenji Watanabe Takashi Taniguchi Shuigang Xu |
| author_facet | Le Zhang Jing Ding Hanxiao Xiang Naitian Liu Wenqiang Zhou Linfeng Wu Na Xin Kenji Watanabe Takashi Taniguchi Shuigang Xu |
| author_sort | Le Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Extending ferroelectric materials to two-dimensional limit provides versatile applications for the development of next-generation nonvolatile devices. Conventional ferroelectricity requires materials consisting of at least two constituent elements associated with polar crystalline structures. Monolayer graphene as an elementary two-dimensional material unlikely exhibits ferroelectric order due to its highly centrosymmetric hexagonal lattices. Here, we report the observations of electronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene by introducing asymmetric moiré superlattice at the graphene/h-BN interface, in which the electric polarization stems from electron-hole dipoles. The polarization switching is probed through the measurements of itinerant Hall carrier density up to room temperature, manifesting as standard polarization-electric field hysteresis loops. We find ferroelectricity in graphene moiré systems exhibits generally similar characteristics in monolayer, bilayer, and trilayer graphene, which indicates layer polarization is not essential to observe the ferroelectricity. Furthermore, we demonstrate the applications of this ferroelectric moiré structures in multi-state nonvolatile data storage with high retention and the emulation of versatile synaptic behaviors. Our work not only provides insights into the fundamental understanding of ferroelectricity, but also demonstrates the potential of graphene for high-speed and multi-state nonvolatile memory applications. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e1e3612c57554f32b28c44d954efa4a8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-e1e3612c57554f32b28c44d954efa4a82025-01-05T12:35:45ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232024-12-011511910.1038/s41467-024-55281-zElectronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene moiré superlatticesLe Zhang0Jing Ding1Hanxiao Xiang2Naitian Liu3Wenqiang Zhou4Linfeng Wu5Na Xin6Kenji Watanabe7Takashi Taniguchi8Shuigang Xu9Key Laboratory for Quantum Materials of Zhejiang Province, Department of Physics, School of Science, Westlake UniversityKey Laboratory for Quantum Materials of Zhejiang Province, Department of Physics, School of Science, Westlake UniversityKey Laboratory for Quantum Materials of Zhejiang Province, Department of Physics, School of Science, Westlake UniversityKey Laboratory for Quantum Materials of Zhejiang Province, Department of Physics, School of Science, Westlake UniversityKey Laboratory for Quantum Materials of Zhejiang Province, Department of Physics, School of Science, Westlake UniversityKey Laboratory for Quantum Materials of Zhejiang Province, Department of Physics, School of Science, Westlake UniversityDepartment of Chemistry, Zhejiang UniversityResearch Center for Electronic and Optical Materials, National Institute for Materials ScienceResearch Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials ScienceKey Laboratory for Quantum Materials of Zhejiang Province, Department of Physics, School of Science, Westlake UniversityAbstract Extending ferroelectric materials to two-dimensional limit provides versatile applications for the development of next-generation nonvolatile devices. Conventional ferroelectricity requires materials consisting of at least two constituent elements associated with polar crystalline structures. Monolayer graphene as an elementary two-dimensional material unlikely exhibits ferroelectric order due to its highly centrosymmetric hexagonal lattices. Here, we report the observations of electronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene by introducing asymmetric moiré superlattice at the graphene/h-BN interface, in which the electric polarization stems from electron-hole dipoles. The polarization switching is probed through the measurements of itinerant Hall carrier density up to room temperature, manifesting as standard polarization-electric field hysteresis loops. We find ferroelectricity in graphene moiré systems exhibits generally similar characteristics in monolayer, bilayer, and trilayer graphene, which indicates layer polarization is not essential to observe the ferroelectricity. Furthermore, we demonstrate the applications of this ferroelectric moiré structures in multi-state nonvolatile data storage with high retention and the emulation of versatile synaptic behaviors. Our work not only provides insights into the fundamental understanding of ferroelectricity, but also demonstrates the potential of graphene for high-speed and multi-state nonvolatile memory applications.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55281-z |
| spellingShingle | Le Zhang Jing Ding Hanxiao Xiang Naitian Liu Wenqiang Zhou Linfeng Wu Na Xin Kenji Watanabe Takashi Taniguchi Shuigang Xu Electronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene moiré superlattices Nature Communications |
| title | Electronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene moiré superlattices |
| title_full | Electronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene moiré superlattices |
| title_fullStr | Electronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene moiré superlattices |
| title_full_unstemmed | Electronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene moiré superlattices |
| title_short | Electronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene moiré superlattices |
| title_sort | electronic ferroelectricity in monolayer graphene moire superlattices |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55281-z |
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