Single-Crystalline Nanowires of Molecular Ferroelectric Semiconductors for Optoelectronic Memory

Though much progress has been achieved in the discovery of new molecular ferroelectrics in recent years, practical applications and related physics are still rarely explored due to the difficulty in high-quality film production and patterning issues. Single-crystalline films and patterns are in high demand for high device performance. Through a template-assisted space-confined strategy, herein, ordered single-crystalline nanowire patterns and optoelectronic devices of a semiconducting molecular ferroelectric (SMF), hexane-1,6-diammonium pentaiodobismuth (HDA-BiI₅), were successfully demonstrated. The coupling of semiconducting and ferroelectric polarization of the SMF devices enables a broadband self-powered photodetection from ultraviolet to visible light, as well as polarization-tunable photoresponsivity. These may open an avenue for high-performance SMF optoelectronic memory devices with low cost and flexibility.