The rise of two-dimensional van der Waals ferroelectrics

Recent research on ferroelectrics based on two-dimensional (2D) materials may lead to a technological revolution, offering much higher density for integration as well as a better combination of semiconductor properties and non-volatile memories at the nanoscale compared with traditional ferroelectrics. In addition, ferroelectricity can be much more robust than ferromagnetism in 2D. In this study, we review the studies on 2D ferroelectricity starting from 2013, which are mainly first-principles predictions, including functionalization-induced 2D ferroelectricity in prevalent non-polar 2D materials as well as 2D intrinsic ferroelectricity, which are either in-plane or vertical. Although the number of reports on 2D ferroelectricity is still small compared to the large amount of research on 2D ferromagnetism, the potential of these materials to unravel new science and technology has stimulated considerable interest in 2D ferroelectricity, making it a fast developing field. It is interesting to note that 2D ferroelectricity was experimentally realized a year before 2D ferromagnetism, and the large difference in the Curie temperatures of these materials has further demonstrated that 2D ferroelectricity could be much more robust than 2D ferromagnetism. This article is categorized under: Structure and Mechanism > Computational Materials Science