Ferroelectric Properties in Van der Waals Materials

Ferroelectric van der Waals materials form a burgeoning class of two-dimensional crystals whose layers are bound by weak dispersion forces yet exhibit strong intralayer bonding. Within these atomically thin sheets, spontaneous electric polarisation can be switched by an external field, yielding non-volatile memory, logic-in-memory and optoelectronic functionalities at the nanoscale. The reduced dimensionality profoundly influences polar stability, domain dynamics and dielectric screening, often leading to thickness-dependent ferroelectric criticality and enhanced retention. Coupling between electrical, magnetic and mechanical degrees of freedom in certain members of this family gives rise to multiferroicity and anisotropic responses. These phenomena underpin advances in ultra-low-power electronics, reconfigurable photonic circuits, bulk photovoltaic devices and neuromorphic architectures. By exploiting both in-plane and out-of-plane polarisation, researchers aim to unlock new device paradigms where atom-thin ferroelectrics serve as active elements in energy-efficient, multifunctional systems.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have revealed rich anisotropic and pressure-tunable behaviours in van der Waals ferroelectrics. In one work, researchers characterised in-plane electrical and magnetic anisotropies in a layered CuCrP₂S₆ multiferroic, demonstrating controllable current rectification, magnon modes and spin-flop transitions by varying temperature, field and polarity. Another investigation provided the first direct observation of out-of-plane ferroelectricity in few-layer CuCrP₂S₆ at room temperature, tracing the atomic origins of switchable polar domains down to four monolayers. A further advance showed that modest hydrostatic pressures enhance remanent polarisation in CuInP₂S₆ by driving cation redistribution, yielding over a 50 percent increase in spontaneous polarisation within a narrow pressure window. Together, these findings deepen understanding of polar stability, domain engineering and external control in two-dimensional ferroelectrics.

Ferroelectric Properties in Van der Waals Materials publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in ferroelectric properties in van der waals materials across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ferroelectricity: The property of a material to exhibit a spontaneous electric polarisation that can be reversed by an external electric field.

Van der Waals materials: Layered crystals held together by weak dispersion forces, enabling exfoliation into atomically thin sheets.

Multiferroicity: Coexistence of two or more ferroic orders, typically ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism, within a single phase.

Remanent polarisation: The residual electric polarisation that remains in a ferroelectric material after removal of the external field.

Ferroelectric field-effect transistor (FeFET): A transistor that uses a ferroelectric layer as the gate dielectric to store logic states via polarisation switching.

References

1. Dual‐logic‐in‐memory implementation with orthogonal polarization of van der Waals ferroelectric heterostructure. InfoMat (2023).
2. Electro-optic tuning in composite silicon photonics based on ferroionic 2D materials. Light: Science & Applications (2024).
3. Electrical and magnetic anisotropies in van der Waals multiferroic CuCrP2S6. Nature Communications (2023).
4. Direct observation of intrinsic room-temperature ferroelectricity in 2D layered CuCrP2S6. Nature Communications (2023).
5. Anomalous polarization enhancement in a van der Waals ferroelectric material under pressure. Nature Communications (2023).
6. Emerging van der Waals ferroelectrics: Unique properties and novel devices. Applied Physics Reviews (2021).