Electrical switching of ferro-rotational order in nano-thick 1T-TaS$_2$ crystals

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates electrical control of ferro-rotational domain states in nano-thick 1T-TaS$_2$ crystals, enabling reversible, durable, and nonvolatile switching at room temperature, which advances potential nanoelectronic applications.

Contribution

It reveals a new method to electrically switch ferro-rotational order in 1T-TaS$_2$ crystals through domain wall propagation despite symmetry constraints.

Findings

Electrical switching of ferro-rotational domains achieved at room temperature.

Domain wall propagation enables reversible and durable state changes.

Switching is realized with simple two-terminal device configuration.

Abstract

Hysteretic switching of domain states is a salient character of all ferroic materials and the foundation for their multifunctional applications. Ferro-rotational order is emerging as a new type of ferroic order featuring structural rotations, but its controlled switching remains elusive due to its invariance under both time reversal and spatial inversion. Here, we demonstrate electrical switching of ferro-rotational domain states in nanometer-thick 1T-TaS$_2$ crystals in its charge-density-wave phases. Cooling from the high-symmetry phase to the ferro-rotational phase under an external electric field induces domain state switching and domain wall formation, realized in a simple two-terminal configuration using a volt-scale voltage. Although the electric field does not couple with the order due to symmetry mismatch, it drives domain wall propagation to give rise to reversible, durable, and nonvolatile isothermal state switching at room temperature. These results pave the path for manipulation of the ferro-rotational order and its nanoelectronic applications.