Cation-eutaxy-enabled III–V-derived van der Waals crystals as memristive semiconductors

Novel two-dimensional semiconductor crystals can exhibit diverse physical properties beyond their inherent semiconducting attributes, making their pursuit paramount. Memristive properties, as exemplars of these attributes, are predominantly manifested in wide-bandgap materials. However, simultaneously harnessing semiconductor properties alongside memristive characteristics to produce memtransistors is challenging. Herein we prepared a class of semiconducting III–V-derived van der Waals crystals, specifically the HxA1–xBX form, exhibiting memristive characteristics. To identify candidates for the material synthesis, we conducted a systematic high-throughput screening, leading us to 44 prospective III–V candidates; of these, we successfully synthesized ten, including nitrides, phosphides, arsenides and antimonides. These materials exhibited intriguing characteristics such as electrochemical polarization and memristive phenomena while retaining their semiconductive attributes. We demonstrated the gate-tunable synaptic and logic functions within single-gate memtransistors, capitalizing on the synergistic interplay between the semiconducting and memristive properties of our two-dimensional crystals. Our approach guides the discovery of van der Waals materials with unique properties from unconventional crystal symmetries. New two-dimensional semiconductors may exhibit properties beyond inherent semiconducting attributes. Here the authors report protonated semiconducting III–V-derived van der Waals crystals with memristive properties.