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Direct measurement of ferroelectric polarization in a tunable semimetal

Author

Listed:
  • Sergio C. Barrera

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Qingrui Cao

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Yang Gao

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Yuan Gao

    (Carnegie Mellon University
    Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Vineetha S. Bheemarasetty

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Jiaqiang Yan

    (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

  • David G. Mandrus

    (Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    University of Tennessee
    University of Tennessee)

  • Wenguang Zhu

    (Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Di Xiao

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Benjamin M. Hunt

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

Abstract

Ferroelectricity, the electrostatic counterpart to ferromagnetism, has long been thought to be incompatible with metallicity due to screening of electric dipoles and external electric fields by itinerant charges. Recent measurements, however, demonstrated signatures of ferroelectric switching in the electrical conductance of bilayers and trilayers of WTe2, a semimetallic transition metal dichalcogenide with broken inversion symmetry. An especially promising aspect of this system is that the density of electrons and holes can be continuously tuned by an external gate voltage. This degree of freedom enables measurement of the spontaneous polarization as free carriers are added to the system. Here we employ capacitive sensing in dual-gated mesoscopic devices of bilayer WTe2 to directly measure the spontaneous polarization in the metallic state and quantify the effect of free carriers on the polarization in the conduction and valence bands, separately. We compare our results to a low-energy model for the electronic bands and identify the layer-polarized states that contribute to transport and polarization simultaneously. Bilayer WTe2 is thus shown to be a fully tunable ferroelectric metal and an ideal platform for exploring polar ordering, ferroelectric transitions, and applications in the presence of free carriers.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergio C. Barrera & Qingrui Cao & Yang Gao & Yuan Gao & Vineetha S. Bheemarasetty & Jiaqiang Yan & David G. Mandrus & Wenguang Zhu & Di Xiao & Benjamin M. Hunt, 2021. "Direct measurement of ferroelectric polarization in a tunable semimetal," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-25587-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25587-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Yunze Gao & Astrid Weston & Vladimir Enaldiev & Xiao Li & Wendong Wang & James E. Nunn & Isaac Soltero & Eli G. Castanon & Amy Carl & Hugo Latour & Alex Summerfield & Matthew Hamer & James Howarth & N, 2024. "Tunnel junctions based on interfacial two dimensional ferroelectrics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    2. Ruirui Niu & Zhuoxian Li & Xiangyan Han & Zhuangzhuang Qu & Dongdong Ding & Zhiyu Wang & Qianling Liu & Tianyao Liu & Chunrui Han & Kenji Watanabe & Takashi Taniguchi & Menghao Wu & Qi Ren & Xueyun Wa, 2022. "Giant ferroelectric polarization in a bilayer graphene heterostructure," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.

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