Proton-mediated reversible switching of metastable ferroelectric phases with low operation voltages

Abstract

The exploration of ferroelectric phase transitions enables an in-depth understanding of ferroelectric switching and promising applications in information storage. However, controllably tuning the dynamics of ferroelectric phase transitions remains challenging owing to inaccessible hidden phases. Here, using protonic gating technology, we create a series of metastable ferroelectric phases and demonstrate their reversible transitions in van der Waals ferroelectric {\alpha}-In2Se3 transistors. By varying the gate bias, protons can be incrementally injected or extracted, achieving controllable tuning of the ferroelectric {\alpha}-In2Se3 protonic dynamics across the channel and obtaining numerous intermediate phases. Combining piezoelectric force microscopy and electrical hysteresis measurements, we surprisingly discover that the gate tuning of {\alpha}-In2Se3 protonation is volatile, unlike the conventional gating effect, and the created new phases remain polar. Their origin, revealed by first-principles calculations, is related to the formation of metastable hydrogen-stabilized {\alpha}-In2Se3 phases with switchable dipoles. Furthermore, our approach enables ultralow gate-voltage switching of different phases (below 0.4 V), and easy integration with transistor components. This work provides fundamental insights into the interactions between protons and ferroelectric phase transitions, providing a possible avenue for accessing hidden phases in ferroelectric switching and for developing energy-efficient, multilevel-switching memory devices.