Issue 17, 2024

Nonvolatile electric-field control of topological phase transition in a two-dimensional ferroelectric heterostructure

Abstract

Discovery and design of materials with the coexistence and coupling of different functional properties is extremely attractive for both fundamental physics and technical applications. In this work, we proposed a strategy to realize the coexistence of ferroelectricity, magnetism and topological order in a two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructure composed of a ferroelectric material α-In2Se3 and a topological hydrogenated germanene. More importantly, we found the strong coupling of the topological electronic structure and ferroelectric order. Transition from a normal semiconductor to a quantum anomalous Hall insulator can be switched by reversing the polarization direction of α-In2Se3. The topological phase transition mechanism is revealed by the interfacial charge transfer and energy band alignment. The difference in the energy band alignment stems from the difference of interfacial potential energy for two opposite ferroelectric phases. So, ferroelectric heterostructure engineering is an effective way to realize band inversion and topological phase transition by the interface effect. Our work is not only of great scientific significance for studying the coupling mechanism of various degrees of freedom through the interface effect, but also provides an effective strategy for realizing nonvolatile topological switches and storage devices in practical applications.

Graphical abstract: Nonvolatile electric-field control of topological phase transition in a two-dimensional ferroelectric heterostructure

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Nov 2023
Accepted
28 Mar 2024
First published
29 Mar 2024

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2024,12, 6278-6287

Nonvolatile electric-field control of topological phase transition in a two-dimensional ferroelectric heterostructure

X. Duan, Z. Zhu, X. Chen, Z. Song and J. Qi, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2024, 12, 6278 DOI: 10.1039/D3TC04392D

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