Strain Fluctuations Unlock Ferroelectricity in Wurtzites

Abstract Ferroelectrics are of practical interest for non‐volatile data storage due to their reorientable, crystallographically defined polarization. Yet efforts to integrate conventional ferroelectrics into ultrathin memories have been frustrated by film‐thickness limitations, which impede polarization reversal under low applied voltage. Wurtzite materials, including magnesium‐substituted zinc oxide (Zn,Mg)O, have been shown to exhibit scalable ferroelectricity as thin films. In this work, the origins of ferroelectricity in (Zn,Mg)O are explained, showing that large strain fluctuations emerge locally in (Zn,Mg)O and can reduce local barriers to ferroelectric switching by more than 40%. Concurrent experimental and computational evidence of these effects are provided by demonstrating polarization switching in ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O/ZnO heterostructures featuring built‐in interfacial strain gradients. These results open up an avenue to develop scalable ferroelectrics by controlling strain fluctuations atomistically.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Electronic Materials
Published
2024-11-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.202400567
Citations
10
Primary Topic
Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.17

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Strain Fluctuations Unlock Ferroelectricity in Wurtzites

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Strain Fluctuations Unlock Ferroelectricity in Wurtzites

Jon‐Paul Maria, Susan Trolier‐McKinstry, Steven M. Baksa, Andrew M. Rappe, R. Jackson Spurling, Simon Gelin, Adri C. T. van Duin, Alireza Sepehrinezhad, Ismaïla Dabo, Leonard Jacques, Seda Oturak
article en
10 citations

Abstract

Abstract Ferroelectrics are of practical interest for non‐volatile data storage due to their reorientable, crystallographically defined polarization. Yet efforts to integrate conventional ferroelectrics into ultrathin memories have been frustrated by film‐thickness limitations, which impede polarization reversal under low applied voltage. Wurtzite materials, including magnesium‐substituted zinc oxide (Zn,Mg)O, have been shown to exhibit scalable ferroelectricity as thin films. In this work, the origins of ferroelectricity in (Zn,Mg)O are explained, showing that large strain fluctuations emerge locally in (Zn,Mg)O and can reduce local barriers to ferroelectric switching by more than 40%. Concurrent experimental and computational evidence of these effects are provided by demonstrating polarization switching in ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O/ZnO heterostructures featuring built‐in interfacial strain gradients. These results open up an avenue to develop scalable ferroelectrics by controlling strain fluctuations atomistically.

Advanced Electronic MaterialsVol. 11(5)
Northwestern University (US), Pennsylvania State University (US), Carnegie Mellon University (US), University of Pennsylvania (US)
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, Energy Frontier Research Centers
Openalex Percentile: Top 18%
Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials
1.17
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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