Twist-induced Out-of-plane Ferroelectricity in Bilayer Hafnia

TL;DR

This paper predicts that twisting bilayer 1T-HfO2 induces stable out-of-plane ferroelectricity through symmetry breaking, enabling switchable polarization suitable for ultra-thin memory devices.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism for out-of-plane ferroelectricity in bilayer hafnia via twisting, supported by first-principles calculations, expanding the potential for 2D ferroelectric materials.

Findings

Twisted bilayer 1T-HfO2 exhibits ~16 μC/cm² polarization.

Polarization can be reversibly switched with low energy barrier (~8 meV).

The system offers electric-field tunability and scalability for memory applications.

Abstract

Ferroelectric HfO2 is a promising candidate for next-generation memory devices due to its CMOS compatibility and ability to retain polarization at nanometer scales. However, the polar orthorhombic phase (Pca2_1) responsible for ferroelectricity is metastable and requires extrinsic stabilization, which makes it challenging for integration with silicon. We predict that bilayer 1T-HfO2 can exhibit robust and switchable out-of-plane (OOP) polarization arising from stacking-induced symmetry breaking. Using first-principles density functional theory, we predict that monolayer 1T-HfO2 can be cleaved from the (111) surface of cubic hafnia, and the monolayer is dynamically stable. When two aligned monolayers are twisted to form a moir\'e superlattice, it breaks the interlayer symmetry and allows the emergence of bistable OOP polarization. At a twist angle of 7.34o, the system exhibits a net polarization of ~16 {\mu}C/cm2. This sizeable polarization is due to the large polar displacements concentrated in AB stacking domains. Importantly, this polarization can be reversibly switched via interlayer sliding with a low energy barrier (~8 meV/formula unit) and comparable low coercive field (~0.2 V/nm), offering electric-field tunability. These findings establish twisted bilayer 1T-HfO2 as a scalable and robust 2D ferroelectric platform, enabling new pathways for integrating ferroelectric functionality into atomically thin memory and logic devices.