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Ferromagnetism

Ferromagnetism

Materials like iron, nickel, and cobalt consist of magnetic domains, within which the magnetic dipoles are arranged parallel to each other. The magnetic dipoles are rigidly aligned in the same direction within a domain by quantum mechanical coupling among the atoms. This coupling is so strong that even thermal agitation at room temperature cannot break it. The result is that each domain has a net dipole moment. However, some materials have weaker coupling, and are ferromagnetic at lower...

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A Fabrication and Measurement Method for a Flexible Ferroelectric Element Based on Van Der Waals Heteroepitaxy

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Mixed-Stacking Few-Layer Graphene as an Elemental Weak Ferroelectric Material.

Aitor Garcia-Ruiz^1,2, Vladimir Enaldiev^1,2, Andrew McEllistrim^1,2

¹School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K.

|May 9, 2023

Summary

Few-layer graphenes exhibit switchable electric polarization, a property typically found in ionic compounds. This discovery opens new avenues for elemental solid-state electronics.

Keywords:

Ferroelectricity graphene rhombohedral graphite screening twin boundary twistronics

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Area of Science:

Solid-state physics
Materials science
Condensed matter physics

Background:

Ferroelectricity, the spontaneous formation of electric polarization, is a well-established phenomenon in ionic compounds and complex materials.
Elemental solids have not traditionally been associated with ferroelectric properties.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the potential for ferroelectricity in elemental solids, specifically few-layer graphenes.
To identify specific graphene structures exhibiting switchable electric polarization.

Main Methods:

Theoretical investigation of few-layer graphene structures.
Analysis of mixed-stacking tetralayers and rhombohedral graphitic films (5-9 layers).
Examination of marginally twisted few-layer graphene flakes.

Main Results:

Few-layer graphenes can host equilibrium out-of-plane electric polarization.
This polarization is switchable by sliding the constituent graphene sheets.
Specific structures like mixed-stacking tetralayers, thicker rhombohedral films with twin boundaries, and twisted few-layer flakes exhibit this effect.

Conclusions:

Elemental few-layer graphenes can exhibit ferroelectric properties, challenging traditional understanding.
Switchable electric polarization in graphene opens possibilities for novel electronic applications.
Lattice reconstruction in twisted graphene can lead to mesoscale domains of alternating polarization.