Atypical sliding and Moire ferroelectricity in pure multilayer graphene

Abstract: Most non-ferroelectric two-dimensional materials can be endowed with so-called sliding ferroelectricity via non-equivalent homo-bilayer stacking, which is not applicable to mono-element systems like pure graphene bilayer with inversion symmetry at any sliding vector. Herein we show first-principles evidence that multilayer graphene with N>3 can all be ferroelectric, where the polarizations of polar states stem from the symmetry breaking in stacking configurations of across-layer instead of adjacent-layer, which are electrically switchable via interlayer sliding. The non-polar states can also be electrically driven to polar states via sliding, all nearly degenerate in energy, and more diverse states with distinct polarizations will emerge in more layers. In contrast to the ferroelectric Moire domains with opposite polarization directions in twisted bilayers reported previously, the Moire pattern in some multilayer graphene systems (e.g., twisted monolayer-trilayer graphene) possess nonzero net polarizations with domains of the same direction separated by non-polar regions, which can be electrically reversed upon interlayer sliding. The distinct Moire bands of two polar states should facilitate electrical detection of such sliding Moire ferroelectricity during switching.