  Since its birth in the 1990s, semiconductor spintronics has suffered from
poor compatibility with ferromagnets as sources of spin. While the broken
inversion symmetry of some semiconductors may alternatively allow for
spin-charge interconversion, its control by electric fields is volatile.
Ferroelectric Rashba semiconductors stand as appealing materials unifying
semiconductivity, large spin-orbit coupling, and non-volatility endowed by
ferroelectricity. However, their potential for spintronics has been little
explored. Here, we demonstrate the non-volatile, ferroelectric control of
spin-to-charge conversion at room temperature in epitaxial GeTe films. We show
that ferroelectric switching by electrical gating is possible in GeTe despite
its high carrier density. We reveal a spin-to-charge conversion as effective as
in Pt, but whose sign is controlled by the orientation of the ferroelectric
polarization. The comparison between theoretical and experimental data suggests
that spin Hall effect plays a major role for switchable conversion. These
results open a route towards devices combining spin-based logic and memory
integrated into a silicon-compatible material.
