R&D: Ferroelectric Transistors Based on Shear-Transformation-Mediated Rhombohedral-Stacked Molybdenum Disulfide

Nature Electronics has published an article written by Tilo H. Yang, Present address: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, and Department of Physics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, Bor-Wei Liang, Department of Physics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, and Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute, National Applied Research Laboratories, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Hsiang-Chi Hu, Department of Physics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, Fu-Xiang Chen, Department of Electrophysics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Sheng-Zhu Ho, Department of Physics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, Wen-Hao Chang, Department of Physics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, Liu Yang, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, P. R. China, Han-Chieh Lo, Tzu-Hao Kuo, Department of Physics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, Jyun-Hong Chen, Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute, National Applied Research Laboratories, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Po-Yen Lin, Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Kristan Bryan Simbulan, Department of Mathematics and Physics, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines, Zhao-Feng Luo, Program for Semiconductor Devices, Materials, and Hetero-integration, Graduate School of Advanced Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan , Alice Chinghsuan Chang, Center for Measurement Standards, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Hsinchu, Taiwan, Yi-Hao Kuo, Department of Electrophysics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Yu-Seng Ku, Yi-Cheng Chen, You-Jia Huang, Yu-Chen Chang, Yu-Fan Chiang, Department of Physics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, Ting-Hua Lu, Department of Physics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, Min-Hung Lee, Program for Semiconductor Devices, Materials, and Hetero-integration, Graduate School of Advanced Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Kai-Shin Li, Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute, National Applied Research Laboratories, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Menghao Wu, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, P. R. China, Yi-Chun Chen, Department of Physics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, Chun-Liang Lin, Department of Electrophysics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, and Yann-Wen Lan, Department of Physics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract: “To develop low-power, non-volatile computing-in-memory device using ferroelectric transistor technologies, ferroelectric channel materials with scaled thicknesses are required. Two-dimensional semiconductors, such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂), equipped with sliding ferroelectricity could provide an answer. However, achieving switchable electric polarization in epitaxial MoS₂ remains challenging due to the absence of mobile domain boundaries. Here we show that polarity-switchable epitaxial rhombohedral-stacked (3R) MoS₂ can be used as a ferroelectric channel in ferroelectric memory transistors. We show that a shear transformation can spontaneously occur in 3R MoS₂ epilayers, producing heterostructures with stable ferroelectric domains embedded in a highly dislocated and unstable non-ferroelectric matrix. This diffusionless phase transformation process produces mobile screw dislocations that enable collective polarity control of 3R MoS₂ via an electric field. Polarization–electric-field measurements reveal a switching field of 0.036 V nm⁻¹ for shear-transformed 3R MoS₂. Our sliding ferroelectric transistors are non-volatile memory units with thicknesses of only two atomic layers and exhibit an average memory window of 7 V with an applied voltage of 10 V, retention times greater than 10⁴ seconds and endurance greater than 10⁴ cycles.“