Enhanced tunneling electroresistance through interfacial charge-modulated barrier in α-In 2 Se 3 -based ferroelectric tunnel junction

• Published in: Journal of physics. Condensed matter Vol. 36; no. 11; p. 115301
• Main Authors: He, Shiying, Zou, Daifeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 20.03.2024
• ISSN: 0953-8984; 1361-648X
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/ad1301

Abstract The manipulation of tunneling resistance is critical for ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) devices. In this work, we propose a mechanism to manipulate tunneling resistance through interfacial charge-modulated barrier in two-dimensional (2D) n -type semiconductor/ferroelectric FTJs. Driven by ferroelectric reversal, different effective tunneling barriers are realized by the depletion or accumulation of electrons near the n -type semiconductor surface in such devices. Thus, the tunneling resistance in FTJs undergoes significant changes for different polarization orientations, resulting in a giant tunneling electroresistance (TER) effect. To illustrate this idea, we construct 2D FTJs based on n -InSe/ α -In 2 Se 3 van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures. Based on the electronic transport calculations, it is found that TER ratio can reach 4.20 × 10 3 % in the designed FTJs. The physical origin of the giant TER effect is verified through analysis of the effective potential energy of the n -InSe/ α -In 2 Se 3 vdW heterostructures and the real-space transmission eigenstates of the designed FTJs. This work contributes to the knowledge of carrier tunneling mechanisms at the interface of semiconductor/In 2 Se 3 vdW heterostructures, and providing a significant insight into the TER effect of this FTJ systems, also presenting an alternative approach for the design of FTJ-based devices.