Electrically driven long-range solid-state amorphization in ferroic In₂Se₃

Electrically induced amorphization is uncommon and has so far been realized by pulsed electrical current in only a few material systems, which are mostly based on the melt-quench process¹. However, if the melting step can be avoided and solid-state amorphization can be realized electrically, it opens up the possibility for low-power device applications^2-5. Here we report an energy-efficient, unconventional long-range solid-state amorphization in a new ferroic β″-phase of indium selenide nanowires through the application of a direct-current bias rather than a pulsed electrical stimulus. The complex interplay of the applied electric field perpendicular to the polarization, current flow parallel to the van der Waals layer and piezoelectric stress results in the formation of interlayer sliding defects and coupled disorder induced by in-plane polarization rotation in this layered material. On reaching a critical limit of the electrically induced disorder, the structure becomes frustrated and locally collapses into an amorphous phase⁶, and this phenomenon is replicated over a much larger microscopic-length scale through acoustic jerks^7,8. Our work uncovers previously unknown multimodal coupling mechanisms of the ferroic order in materials to the externally applied electric field, current and internally generated stress, and can be useful to design new materials and devices for low-power electronic and photonic applications.