At the core of the electronic revolution is a tiny "transistor" device controlled rapidly and efficiently in a nearly perfect crystalline structure. Today, after decades of research and developments, it is possible to switch the response of crystals as small as 100x100x100 atoms by applying local electromagnetic fields. We use billions of millions of them in every computer, sensor, medical tool, and nearly all technology around us. Thus, efforts to better observe, understand, and control these tiny crystalline structures have an enormous impact beyond fundamental curiosity.
STRAIN2EXTREME developed new methods to manipulate the electronic response in ultimately thin layered materials by engineering the layers' stacking arrangements and structural symmetries. By assembling these artificial "van der Waals Polytypes" in the lab into metastable crystals that break the symmetry, we found that electrons jump between the layers and create internal electric polarizations that are absent in the natural crystals. We further showed that external electric fields are sufficient to slide the layers between distinct stacking configurations that revert the polarization orientation. We termed this response as "Interfacial Ferroelectricity" and pointed to numerous novel responses available by the new electric control of these structural transitions. In the following steps, we showed that this concept applies to a wide range of layered materials including graphitic polytypes, and expanded the microscopic understanding of the switching dynamics. We called it "SlideTronics" and founded a company "SlideTro LTD" that aims to bring these devices closer to practical applications.
