Colloquium: Physical properties of group-IV monochalcogenide monolayers

Salvador Barraza-Lopez, Benjamin M. Fregoso, John W. Villanova, Stuart S. P. Parkin, and Kai Chang
Rev. Mod. Phys. 93, 011001 – Published 10 March 2021

Abstract

The state-of-the-art knowledge of ferroelectric and ferroelastic group-IV monochalcogenide monolayers is surveyed. These semiconductors feature remarkable structural and mechanical properties, such as a switchable in-plane spontaneous polarization, soft elastic constants, structural degeneracies, and thermally driven two-dimensional structural transformations. Additionally, these 2D materials display selective valley excitations, valley Hall effects, and persistent spin helix behavior. After a description of their Raman spectra, a discussion of optical properties arising from their lack of centrosymmetry (such as an unusually strong second-harmonic intensity, large bulk photovoltaic effects, photostriction, and tunable exciton binding energies) is provided as well. The physical properties observed in these materials originate from (correlate with) their intrinsic and switchable electric polarization, and the physical behavior hereby reviewed could be of use in nonvolatile memory, valleytronic, spintronic, and optoelectronic devices: these 2D multiferroics enrich and diversify the 2D material toolbox.

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  • Received 7 January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.93.011001

© 2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Salvador Barraza-Lopez*

  • Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA

Benjamin M. Fregoso

  • Department of Physics, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA

John W. Villanova

  • Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA

Stuart S. P. Parkin

  • Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Weinberg 2, Halle 06120, Germany

Kai Chang

  • Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences, Beijing 100193, China

  • *sbarraza@uark.edu
  • changkai@baqis.ac.cn

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Issue

Vol. 93, Iss. 1 — January - March 2021

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