Ferroelectrics and photovoltaics in endohedral fullerenes-based van der Waals heterostructures

Abstract

Using the density functional theory calculations, we studied the ferroelectric, electronic, and optical properties of a series of bias-controllable endohedral fullerene molecules (TM@C28, TM = Ti-Ni). One important finding is that Cr@C28 has a large electric dipole moment and an appropriate bandgap (∼1.2 eV). By sandwiching Cr@C28 molecules between two graphene or transition metal dichalcogenide layers, the heterostructures may combine strong ferroelectricity and excellent optical properties. This paves the way for the development of two-dimensional van der Waals ferroelectric-photovoltaic materials.