Electro-optic effects in some sliding ferroelectrics

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Wan, Xueqing, Zhang, Zhenlong, Paillard, Charles, Ni, Jinyang, Zhang, Lei, Jiang, Zhijun, Bellaiche, Laurent
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Wan, Xueqing
Zhang, Zhenlong
Paillard, Charles
Ni, Jinyang
Zhang, Lei
Jiang, Zhijun
Bellaiche, Laurent
author_facet Wan, Xueqing
Zhang, Zhenlong
Paillard, Charles
Ni, Jinyang
Zhang, Lei
Jiang, Zhijun
Bellaiche, Laurent
contents Sliding ferroelectrics, which exhibit out-of-plane polarization arising from specific stacking rather than conventional ionic displacements, are new types of ferroelectrics whose underdeveloped physics needs to be explored. Here, we investigate the electro-optic (EO) response of these materials using first-principles calculations, focusing on ZrI$_{2}$ as a prototype. We reveal that, contrary to conventional ferroelectrics, the EO effect in ZrI$_{2}$ is dominated by its electronic contribution rather than the ionic one, which promises faster EO responses. Furthermore, both biaxial and uniaxial strains significantly enhance this response, and a universal-like linear relationship between the band gap and such response is discovered. We also report a large elasto-optic coefficient that is independent of biaxial strain. Similar large linear EO coefficients and properties are found in other sliding ferroelectrics, including different zirconium dihalides, as well as BN and BP bilayers. These findings highlight sliding ferroelectrics as highly promising candidates for ultrafast nonlinear optical devices and reveal unusual mechanisms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_03738
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Electro-optic effects in some sliding ferroelectrics
Wan, Xueqing
Zhang, Zhenlong
Paillard, Charles
Ni, Jinyang
Zhang, Lei
Jiang, Zhijun
Bellaiche, Laurent
Materials Science
Sliding ferroelectrics, which exhibit out-of-plane polarization arising from specific stacking rather than conventional ionic displacements, are new types of ferroelectrics whose underdeveloped physics needs to be explored. Here, we investigate the electro-optic (EO) response of these materials using first-principles calculations, focusing on ZrI$_{2}$ as a prototype. We reveal that, contrary to conventional ferroelectrics, the EO effect in ZrI$_{2}$ is dominated by its electronic contribution rather than the ionic one, which promises faster EO responses. Furthermore, both biaxial and uniaxial strains significantly enhance this response, and a universal-like linear relationship between the band gap and such response is discovered. We also report a large elasto-optic coefficient that is independent of biaxial strain. Similar large linear EO coefficients and properties are found in other sliding ferroelectrics, including different zirconium dihalides, as well as BN and BP bilayers. These findings highlight sliding ferroelectrics as highly promising candidates for ultrafast nonlinear optical devices and reveal unusual mechanisms.
title Electro-optic effects in some sliding ferroelectrics
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.03738