Electric field induced metallic behavior in thin crystals of ferroelectric α-In2Se3

Abstract: Ferroelectric semiconductor field effect transistors (FeSmFETs), which employ ferroelectric semiconducting thin crystals of {\alpha}-In2Se3 as the channel material as opposed to the gate dielectric in conventional ferroelectric FETs (FeFETs) were prepared and measured from room to the liquid-helium temperatures. These FeSmFETs were found to yield evidence for the reorientation of the electrical polarization and an electric field induced metallic state in {\alpha}-In2Se3. Our findings suggest that FeSmFETs can serve as a platform for the fundamental study of ferroelectric metals as well as the exploration of the integration of data storage and logic operations in the same device.