Sliding and superlubric twisting ferroelectric transition in bilayer HfO2

Sliding and superlubric twisting ferroelectric transition in bilayer HfO2 | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Sliding and superlubric twisting ferroelectric transition in bilayer HfO 2 Jie Sun, Xin Li, Tianlin Li, Yu Yun, Guodong Ren, Yiheng Shen, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6647260/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Despite progress in HfO 2 thin-film ferroelectrics, issues such as fatigue and high coercive fields persist, and the dynamics of emerging twisted ferroelectricity remain largely unexplored. Here, we explore how interlayer sliding and twisting in bilayer HfO 2 enables low barrier switching pathways. Among 144 sliding configurations, two exhibit strong in-plane polarization (2360 pC/m) with a low switching barrier of 3.19 meV/atom. Twisting generates polar textures associated with moiré patterns and quasi-flat bands, which drive ferroelectricity via a soft zone-center optical mode, as revealed by machine-learning-assisted first-principles calculations. At twist angles of 21.79° and 27.80°, switching barriers drop to 0.58 and 0.06 meV/atom, indicating superlubric-like ferroelectric transitions. Notably, the 46.83° twisted bilayer shows an almost barrier-free polar evolution (0.009 meV/atom), attributed to sharply enhanced zone-center phonon linewidths. Our findings establish a moiré-engineered, ultra-low-energy switching route for 2D ferroelectric applications. Hard Condensed-matter Physics twisted oxide membrane ferroelectric HfO2 superlubric Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6647260","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":455410652,"identity":"b6487fb8-f77c-466f-b7d6-e3dee0d0b9f1","order_by":0,"name":"Jie 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