Download file (5.03 MB)
Download as zip (4.74 MB)

Collection

Citation

Description:

Fundamentally distinct from the conventional ferroelectrics, the most discriminative hallmark of the emerging 2D sliding ferroelectricity is the polarization switching via the domain wall (DW) sliding. Meanwhile, multilayer graphene has recently attracted immense research attention owing to engineerable strong electron correlation and non-trivial band topology. Here, domain wall sliding-induced electric polarization switching is directly observed for the first time in multilayer graphene. We identify adjacent polar domains of opposite electric polarizations in tetralayer graphene, the thinnest natural graphene polytype with broken inversion and mirror symmetries, by a gate-tunable nanoscale optical imaging technique. Remarkably, we directly observe and realize the DW sliding-induced polarization switching between these polar domains upon application of global and local electric fields and mechanical forces. Our combined experiment and theory find a single DW sliding at the middlemost interface is responsible for the polarization switching. Our work opens new opportunities in studying sliding ferroelectricity in multilayer graphene, and demonstrates a novel optical readout method for sensitively and directly detecting electric polarization in 2D materials.

Rights:

• Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 International
  

Keyword: graphene, ferroelectricity, optical imaging

Date published: 2026-05-22

Publisher: Wiley

Journal:

• Advanced Science (ISSN: 21983844) vol. 13 issue. 36 e75781

Funding:

• National Natural Science Foundation of China 92580112
• National Natural Science Foundation of China 12174335
• National Natural Science Foundation of China 12374292
• National Natural Science Foundation of China 62175217
• 日本学術振興会 JP24K06968 (原子層物質の積層構造による新奇量子物性・新規機能の理論開発)

Manuscript type: Publisher's version (Version of record)

MDR DOI:

First published URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.75781

Related item:

Other identifier(s):

Contact agent:

Updated at: 2026-07-13 14:59:30 +0900

Published on MDR: 2026-07-13 18:24:39 +0900