Switching dynamics of MoS2/Au(111) heterostructures

In recent years, there has been wide interest in quantum control of nanoscale systems with major applications in laser-pulse logic circuits. Previous experimental work indicate that Au/MoS2-based vertical heterojunctions show I-V hysteresis. This finding indicates that these junctions have potential application in memory devices such as memristors and advanced neuromorphic logic circuits. However, underlying mechanisms behind conductivity switching, directionally variant current-voltage ratio characteristics and the corresponding charge transfer processes are not well understood. Our first-principles studies indicate that the polarization field of both interfacial space charge region and the sandwiched MoS2 are modulated by external electric field. Our study shows that polarization field of the MoS2/Au(111) heterostructure can be modulated by engineering the electrodes, strain, applied electric field, and defect density. In order to understand the dynamics of this observed ferroelectric behavior, we parametrize the polarization-voltage hysteresis characteristics computed from first principles. We anticipate this study will help pave the way for a comprehensive, system level understanding of dynamics of resistive switching for next-generation computing and memory devices.