Reversible flexoelectric domain engineering at the nanoscale in van der Waals ferroelectrics

Heng Liu, Qinglin Lai, Jun Fu, Shijie Zhang, Zhaoming Fu and Hualing Zeng ()
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Heng Liu: University of Science and Technology of China
Qinglin Lai: University of Science and Technology of China
Jun Fu: University of Science and Technology of China
Shijie Zhang: Yunnan Normal University
Zhaoming Fu: Yunnan Normal University
Hualing Zeng: University of Science and Technology of China

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The universal flexoelectric effect in solids provides a mechanical pathway for controlling electric polarization in ultrathin ferroelectrics, eliminating potential material breakdown from a giant electric field at the nanoscale. One challenge of this approach is arbitrary implementation, which is strongly hindered by one-way switching capability. Here, utilizing the innate flexibility of van der Waals materials, we demonstrate that ferroelectric polarization and domain structures can be mechanically, reversibly, and arbitrarily switched in two-dimensional CuInP2S6 via the nano-tip imprinting technique. The bidirectional flexoelectric control is attributed to the extended tip-induced deformation in two-dimensional systems with innate flexibility at the atomic scale. By employing an elastic substrate, artificial ferroelectric nanodomains with lateral sizes as small as ~80 nm are noninvasively generated in an area of 1 μm2, equal to a density of 31.4 Gbit/in2. Our results highlight the potential applications of van der Waals ferroelectrics in data storage and flexoelectronics.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48892-z

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