Electrically Induced, Non-Volatile, Metal Insulator Transition in a Ferroelectric Gated MoS$_2$ Transistor

TL;DR

This paper reports a non-volatile, electrically controlled metal-insulator transition in a MoS₂ transistor using ferroelectric gating, enabling reversible phase switching with retained states without power.

Contribution

It demonstrates a novel ferroelectric gate design that induces and retains a reversible metal-insulator phase transition in MoS₂ transistors.

Findings

Non-volatile phase switching achieved via ferroelectric gating.

Remnant polarization maintains the phase state without power.

Reversible control of electronic phases in 2D materials.

Abstract

We demonstrate an electrically induced, non-volatile, metal-insulator phase transition in a MoS$_2$ transistor. A single crystalline, epitaxially grown, PbZr$_{0.2}$Ti$_{0.8}$O$_3$ (PZT) was placed in the gate of a field effect transistor made of thin film MoS$_2$. When a gate voltage is applied to this ferroelectric gated transistor, a clear transition from insulator to metal and vice versa is observed. Importantly, when the gate voltage is turned off, the remnant polarization in the ferroelectric can keep the MoS$_2$ in its original phase, thereby providing a non-volatile state. Thus a metallic or insulating phase can be written, erased or retained simply by applying a gate voltage to the transistor.