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Updated: Mar 18, 2026

Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Published on: March 24, 2019
Interfacial work-function engineering for giant tunneling electroresistance in a Sc2CO2/Y2CO2van der Waals
Shiying He1, Shuhong Xie2, Daifeng Zou3
1School of Physics & Astronomy and Center for Advanced Quantum Studies, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Van der Waals ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) based on two-dimensional (2D) materials offer a promising platform for next-generation nonvolatile memory, yet achieving ultrahigh tunneling electroresistance (TER) remains a critical challenge. This work demonstrates a giant TER effect of 5.83 × 109% in a vertically stacked FTJ comprising out-of-plane ferroelectric monolayers Sc2CO2and Y2CO2. First-principles calculations and quantum transport simulations reveal that the TER originates from interfacial work-function engineering. In theP↓↓state, a substantial work-function difference (ΔW= 2.35 eV) drives significant charge transfer and yielding high conductance. Conversely, theP↓↑configuration exhibits a smaller ΔW(0.85 eV), insufficient to overcome the Sc2CO2band gap. These findings not only propose Sc2CO2/Y2CO2as an exceptional candidate for high-performance memory devices but also establish a general interfacial design strategy for achieving colossal TER in low-dimensional ferroelectric systems.
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