MSE Seminar: Kenji Yasuda (Cornell AEP)

Description

Physics and Application of Sliding Ferroelectrics

Achieving atomically thin ferroelectric materials for use in ferroelectric nonvolatile memory remains a significant challenge in materials science, primarily due to depolarization effects at ultrathin scales. To address this challenge, we present a novel approach to engineering atomically thin ferroelectrics using van der Waals heterostructures. Our method involves artificially inducing ferroelectricity by manipulating the stacking angle of nonferroelectric bilayer boron nitride. This phenomenon is characterized by its unique sliding nature of polarization switching and is hence called “sliding ferroelectrics.” This technique enables the production of one of the thinnest out-of-plane ferroelectrics that operates as a nonvolatile memory at room temperature with ultrafast, high-endurance switching properties, thereby overcoming some of the traditional constraints. We will demonstrate how the twist degrees of freedom can be used to control the ferroelectric properties of these materials.
 

Bio:
Kenji Yasuda earned his Ph.D. in applied physics in 2018 from the University of Tokyo, where he studied various spintronic functionalities in magnetic topological insulator thin films. He then moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he pioneered the field of artificial ferroelectrics based on van der Waals heterostructures, for which he received MRS Postdoctoral Awards. In 2024, he joined the School of Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell as an assistant professor. His lab focuses on designing quantum nanomaterials and heterostructures to explore novel physical properties and functionalities.