Issue 28, 2025

Sliding ferroelectricity of multilayer h-BN

Abstract

The emergence of two-dimensional ferroelectrics has spurred significant interest for beyond-Moore electronics. Recent breakthroughs have demonstrated the robust out-of-plane ferroelectricity in specifically engineered hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) configurations via interlayer sliding mechanisms. We systematically investigate stacking-dependent ferroelectric ordering in multilayer h-BN using first principles calculation methods and the modern theory of polarization. In the h-BN of three layers, interlayer slip disrupts the spatial inversion symmetry of the structure, generating switchable out-of-plane dipoles modulated by stacking sequences. Symmetry analysis of trilayer h-BN reveals 36 distinct stacking orders. These are grouped into 4 transformation sets, each containing 9 stackings that are mutually convertible via interlayer sliding. Among these, 30 configurations are non-centrosymmetric. This provides more options for exhibiting ferroelectricity than the bilayer system, where only AB/BA stacking configurations possess an electric dipole moment. We systematically calculate the different characteristics of single-layer sliding and double-layer sliding in trilayer h-BN. When the number of layers further increases, we propose two stacking strategies to enhance electric dipole moments: (1) introducing AB stacking for polarization accumulation and (2) employing AA′ antiparallel stacking to amplify vertical dipoles. These findings provide fundamental insights into sliding ferroelectric mechanisms in h-BN multilayers and establish design principles for developing ultracompact ferroelectric devices with tailored polarization characteristics.

Graphical abstract: Sliding ferroelectricity of multilayer h-BN

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Apr 2025
Accepted
19 Jun 2025
First published
30 Jun 2025

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2025,27, 14896-14905

Sliding ferroelectricity of multilayer h-BN

Z. Li, L. Fang, H. Zhang, W. Wu and W. Ren, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2025, 27, 14896 DOI: 10.1039/D5CP01307K

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