In a groundbreaking achievement, researcher Wang Hongwei from Ningbo University, in collaboration with Li Runwei, He Ri, and their team, has, for the first time, fitted a 'steering wheel' onto slip ferroelectrics with atomic-layer thickness, enabling precise directional slip. The pertinent research findings have been published in Physical Review Letters.

Slip ferroelectrics, which achieve polarization reversal through the coordinated slip of atomic layers, boast advantages such as ultra-low energy consumption. However, controlling the slip direction had long posed a significant challenge.

Taking bilayer boron nitride as a model, the research team employed a combination of first-principles calculations and artificial intelligence molecular dynamics simulations. By applying uniaxial strain to disrupt symmetry, they successfully achieved directional locked slip and polarization reversal of atomic layers under the influence of an electric field. Notably, the polarization reversal speed observed in this study is 3 to 4 orders of magnitude faster than that of traditional ferroelectric materials.