Van der Waals Ferroelectrics Toward Non‐Volatile Nanoelectronics

ABSTRACT Ferroelectric materials exhibit controllable spontaneous electrical polarization under external electric fields, offering significant potential for high‐density, high‐speed, and energy‐efficient non‐volatile electronic device technology. However, the practical realization of conventional ferroelectrics has been impeded by issues such as lattice mismatch, interfacial challenges, limited compatibility with silicon complementary metal–oxide‐semiconductor (CMOS) technology, and compromised device reliability. In contrast, van der Waals (vdW) ferroelectrics are characterized by room‐temperature ferroelectricity, atomic‐scale thickness, dangling‐bond‐free surfaces, and weak interlayer interactions suitable for constructing tailored structures. These unique properties position them as an unprecedented platform to address the fundamental limitations of their conventional counterparts for developing non‐volatile ferroelectric devices. Herein, we critically evaluate the current status of vdW ferroelectric research with a focus on their application in non‐volatile device technology. We survey recent breakthroughs in material discovery and polarization control, analyze the device performance of both intrinsic and artificial vdW ferroelectrics through quantitative benchmarking against conventional technologies, and identify the key materials‐level and device‐level challenges—including polarization magnitude, switching kinetics, characterization reliability, defect dynamics, and scalable integration—that must be addressed to advance this field toward practical memory applications.