Ferroelectric Switching at Symmetry-Broken Interfaces by Local Control of Dislocations Networks

Semiconducting ferroelectric materials with low energy polarisation switching offer a platform for next-generation electronics such as ferroelectric field-effect transistors. Recently discovered interfacial ferroelectricity in bilayers of transition metal dichalcogenide films provide an opportunity to combine the potential of semiconducting ferroelectrics with the design flexibility of two-dimensional material devices. Here, local control of ferroelectric domains in a marginally twisted WS bilayer is demonstrated with a scanning tunneling microscope at room temperature, and their observed reversible evolution understood using a string-like model of the domain wall network (DWN). We identify two characteristic regimes of DWN evolution: (i) elastic bending of partial screw dislocations separating smaller domains with twin stackings due to mutual sliding of monolayers at domain boundaries and (ii) merging of primary domain walls into perfect screw dislocations, which become the seeds for the recovery of the initial domain structure upon reversing electric field. These results open the possibility to achieve full control over atomically thin semiconducting ferroelectric domains using local electric fields, which is a critical step towards their technological use. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.