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
• Main Authors: He, Shiying, Zou, Daifeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 13.12.2023
• Subjects: ferroelectric tunnel junction; nonequilibrium Green’s function; tunneling electroresistance; interfacial charge
• ISSN: 1361-648X

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) -type semiconductor/ferroelectric FTJs. Driven by ferroelectric reversal, different effective tunneling barriers are realized by the depletion or accumulation of electrons near the -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 -InSe/ -In Se van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures. Based on the electronic transport calculations, it is found that TER ratio can reach 4.20 × 10 % in the designed FTJs. The physical origin of the giant TER effect is verified through analysis of the effective potential energy of the -InSe/ -In Se 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 Se 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.