Two-dimensional ferroelectric tunnel junction: the case of monolayer In:SnSe/SnSe/Sb:SnSe homostructure

Abstract

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions, in which ferroelectric polarization and quantum tunneling are closely coupled to induce the tunneling electroresistance (TER) effect, have attracted considerable interest due to their potential in non-volatile and low-power consumption memory devices. The ferroelectric size effect, however, has hindered ferroelectric tunnel junctions from exhibiting robust TER effect. Here, our study proposes doping engineering in a two-dimensional in-plane ferroelectric semiconductor as an effective strategy to design a two-dimensional ferroelectric tunnel junction composed of homostructural $p$-type semiconductor/ferroelectric/$n$-type semiconductor. Since the in-plane polarization persists in the monolayer ferroelectric barrier, the vertical thickness of two-dimensional ferroelectric tunnel junction can be as thin as monolayer. We show that the monolayer In:SnSe/SnSe/Sb:SnSe junction provides an embodiment of this strategy. Combining density functional theory calculations with non-equilibrium Green's function formalism, we investigate the electron transport properties of In:SnSe/SnSe/Sb:SnSe and reveal a giant TER effect of 1460$\%$. The dynamical modulation of both barrier width and barrier height during the ferroelectric switching are responsible for this giant TER effect. These findings provide an important insight towards the understanding of the quantum behaviors of electrons in materials at the two-dimensional limit, and enable new possibilities for next-generation non-volatile memory devices based on flexible two-dimensional lateral ferroelectric tunnel junctions.

arXiv commentACS Editors' choice, full text is available free of charge at ACS Applied Electronic Materials DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.9b00146; 20 pages, 5 figures in main text; 15 pages, 10 figures in supporting information

References in corpus (16)

• Density functional method for nonequilibrium electron transport
• A ferroelectric memristor
• Giant Electroresistance in Ferroelectric Tunnel Junctions
• Colossal electroresistance in metal/ferroelectric/semiconductor tunnel diodes for resistive switching memories
• Robust Ferroelectricity in Monolayer Group-IV Monochalcogenides
• Magnetic tunnel junctions with ferroelectric barriers: Prediction of four resistance states from first-principles
• Discovery of Intrinsic Ferromagnetic Ferroelectricity in Transition Metal Halides Monolayer
• Tinselenidene: a Two-dimensional Auxetic Material with Ultralow Lattice Thermal Conductivity and Ultrahigh Hole Mobility
• Emergence of ferroelectricity and spin-valley properties in two-dimensional honeycomb binary compounds
• Ferroelectric Instability under Screened Coulomb Interactions
• Photostrictive two-dimensional materials in the monochalcogenide family
• Solid-state Synapse Based on Magnetoelectrically Coupled Memristor
• First-principles studies of multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials
• Meta-screening and permanence of polar distortion in metallized ferroelectrics
• Coexistence of polar distortion and metallicity in PbTi1-xNbxO3
• Probing ferroelectricity in highly conducting materials through their elastic response: persistence of ferroelectricity in metallic BaTiO3-d

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Microscopic manipulation of ferroelectric domains in SnSe monolayers at room temperature
• Colloquium: Physical properties of group-IV monochalcogenide monolayers
• Two-dimensional antiferroelectric tunnel junction
• Design of a multifunctional polar metal via first-principles high-throughput structure screening
• Experimental formation of monolayer group-IV monochalcogenides
• Ferroelectric metals in 1T/1T'-phase transition metal dichalcogenide MTe2 bilayers (M = Pt, Pd, and Ni)
• Recent advances, perspectives and challenges in ferroelectric synapses
• Strain-tunable in-plane ferroelectricity and lateral tunnel junction in monolayer group-IV monochalcogenides
• Room Temperature Ferroelectricity and Electrically Tunable Berry Curvature Dipole in III-V Monolayers
• First-principles design of ferromagnetic monolayer MnO${}_2$ at the complex interface