Ferroelectric Field-Effect Transistor Technologies

Ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFETs) integrate a ferroelectric layer into the gate stack of conventional FETs, enabling reversible control of channel conductivity via spontaneous electric polarisation. The presence of a ferroelectric dielectric, such as hafnium-zirconium oxides or polymeric ferroelectrics, offers high permittivity and non-volatile gating, promising sub-60 mV decade–1 switching, reduced power consumption and enhanced scaling potential. Advances in two-dimensional semiconductors and complex oxide heterostructures have expanded the FeFET materials palette, facilitating multifunctional applications in memory, neuromorphic computing, photodetection and reconfigurable electronics. Ongoing efforts address challenges in endurance, interface stability and integration compatibility, charting a path towards energy-efficient hardware for next-generation electronic and optoelectronic systems.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have exploited ferroelectric polymers and oxide thin films to tune band alignment and interfacial properties in two-dimensional heterostructures. One approach employs a high-field polymer layer to switch a GeSe/MoS₂ junction between type II and type I band alignments, achieving ultralow dark current, microsecond response and enhanced detectivity across visible to near-infrared wavelengths. Interfacial polar coupling has been shown to control nonlinear optical responses at MoS₂/oxide boundaries, enabling domain-wall-mediated second-harmonic filtering. Foundational work on local ferroelectric doping in monolayer semiconductors has realised non-volatile p–n diodes and bipolar phototransistors with high gain, self-powered operation and sub-20 µs switching.

Ferroelectric Field-Effect Transistor Technologies publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in ferroelectric field-effect transistor technologies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ferroelectricity: Property of certain materials to exhibit spontaneous and reversible electric polarisation under an applied field.

Field-effect transistor: A three-terminal semiconductor device in which an electric field modulates the conductivity of a channel to control current flow.

Van der Waals heterojunction: An interface between two layered materials bonded by van der Waals forces, engineered to achieve tailored electronic or optoelectronic properties.

Negative capacitance: A phenomenon in ferroelectrics whereby the differential capacitance becomes negative during polarisation switching, enabling sub-thermal limit switching in transistors.

Hysteresis: The dependence of a system’s output on its history of applied inputs, often seen as a loop in polarisation versus electric field in ferroelectric materials.

Two-dimensional material: A crystalline material consisting of a single or few atomic layers, such as graphene or transition metal dichalcogenides, with unique electronic properties.

Non-volatile memory: A storage technology that retains information without continuous power by leveraging bistable states in ferroelectric or resistive devices.

Polarisation switching: The reversible reorientation of electric dipoles in a ferroelectric material under an external electric field, fundamental to memory operations.

References

1. Ferroelectric field effect transistors for electronics and optoelectronics. Applied Physics Reviews (2023).
2. Reconfigurable two-dimensional optoelectronic devices enabled by local ferroelectric polarization. Nature Communications (2019).
3. Ferroelectric-tuned van der Waals heterojunction with band alignment evolution. Nature Communications (2021).
4. Polar coupling enabled nonlinear optical filtering at MoS2/ferroelectric heterointerfaces. Nature Communications (2020).
5. Combining Freestanding Ferroelectric Perovskite Oxides with Two-Dimensional Semiconductors for High Performance Transistors. Nano Letters (2022).