Intercorrelated Ferroelectricity and Bulk Photovoltaic Effect in Two-Dimensional Sn₂P₂S₆ Semiconductor for...

A two-dimensional (2D) ferroelectric semiconductor, which is coupled with photosensitivity and room-temperature ferroelectricity, provides the possibility of coordinated conductance modulation by both electric field and light illumination and is promising for triggering the revolution of optoelectronics for monolithic multifunctional integration. Here, we report that semiconducting Sn₂P₂S₆ crystals can be achieved in a 2D morphology using a chemical vapor transport approach with the assistant of space confinement and experimentally demonstrate the robust ferroelectricity in atomic-thin Sn₂P₂S₆ nanosheet at room temperature. The intercorrelated programming of ferroelectric order along out-of-plane (OOP) and in-plane (IP) directions enables a tunable bulk photovoltaic (BPV) effect through multidirectional electrical control. By combining the capability of anisotropic in-plane optical absorption, a highly integrated Sn₂P₂S₆ optoelectronic device vertically sandwiched with graphene electrodes yields the polarization-dependent open-circuit photovoltage with a dichroic ratio of 2.0 under 405 nm light illumination. The reintroduction of ferroelectric Sn₂P₂S₆ to the 2D asymmetric semiconductor family provides possibilities to hardware implement of the self-powered polarization-sensitive photodetection and spotlights the promising applications for next-generation photovoltaic devices.