The emergence of sliding ferroelectricity has opened new avenues for the development of two-dimensional (2D) ferroelectrics. However, the fundamental mechanisms governing sliding-induced multistate ferroelectricity and its correlation with optoelectronic properties remain poorly understood. Using first-principles calculations, we systematically explore the stable multistate ferroelectricity and photoelectric conversion properties in a van der Waals (vdW) 1T′-${\mathrm{Re}\mathrm{S}}_2$ bilayer with ground-state symmetry under sliding manipulation. Our results not only identify diverse and robust sliding ferroelectricity but also reveal the exceptional stability of four distinct polarization states. Notably, we demonstrate that interlayer sliding facilitates reversible polarization switching via an ultralow energy barrier. Moreover, sliding-modulated band-edge shifts and interfacial charge redistribution synergistically drive dynamic transitions between type-II and type-V band alignments during multistate switching, yielding outstanding photovoltaic performance with a theoretical power conversion efficiency of up to 23.63%. These findings establish 2D vdW 1T′-${\mathrm{Re}\mathrm{S}}_2$ as a promising candidate for reconfigurable multistate ferroelectrics and high-efficiency sliding-driven photovoltaics.

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• Electric polarization
• Ferroelectrics
• Photovoltaic absorbers
• Semiconductor compounds
• Transition metal dichalcogenides
• van der Waals systems
• Ab initio molecular dynamics
• Density functional calculations