van der Waals Hybrids for Ferroelectric Device Application

The evolution of ferroelectric devices is driven by advancements in materials science, device physics, and engineering. However, depolarization fields and interfacial disorder limit the scaling performance, endurance, and reliability of conventional thin-film ferroelectrics. van der Waals (vdW) ferroelectric materials exhibiting novel properties at the atomic scale are interesting candidates for mitigating the aforementioned issues, thereby allowing for improved ferroelectric device performance. In this review, we discuss the unconventional origins of both spontaneous and artificial polarization, along with their associated switching mechanisms, in polar and nonpolar vdW ferroelectric crystals and heterostructures. Recent device architectures utilizing vdW ferroelectricity are reviewed with a specific focus on emerging memory, steep-slope logic, and in-memory computing applications. We conclude with an overview of the opportunities and challenges for vdW ferroelectrics related to scalability, endurance, device integration, and growth, highlighting recent advances toward manifesting next-generation electronics.