Ferroelectricity in Orthorhombic Zirconia Thin Films
Ferroelectric fluorite oxides such as hafnium (HfO<sub>2</sub>)-based materials are one of the most promising candidates for future large-scale integrated circuits (ICs), while zirconia (ZrO<sub>2</sub>)-based fluorite materials, which have the same structure as HfO<sub>2</sub> and <b>more abundant resources and lower cost of raw materials</b>, are usually thought to be anti- or ferroelectric-like. Here, we report a remanent polarization (<i>P</i><sub><i>r</i></sub>) of ∼15 μC/cm<sup>2</sup> in orthorhombic ZrO<sub>2</sub> thin films at 77 K. This ferroelectricity arises from an electric field-induced antiferroelectric to ferroelectric phase transition, which is particularly noticeable at 77 K. Our work reveals the ferroelectricity in ZrO<sub>2</sub> thin films and offers a new pathway to understand the origin of ferroelectricity in fluorite oxides.
Authors
- Qi Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5914-3909)
- Yuanmin Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9554-3005)
- Zengxu Xu
- Xianglong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2180-052X)
- Mingqiang Gu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2889-2202)
- Yihao Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9175-5059)
- Lang Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2460-8232)
- Mao Ye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7078-2402)
- Jingxuan Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9526-3043)
- Songbai Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0183-9559)
Institutions
- Harbin Institute of Technology (CN)
- Dongguan University of Technology (CN)
- Southern University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Guangzhou University (CN)
- Great Bay University
- Nanjing University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nano Letters
- Published
- 2025-03-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c05612
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Ferroelectric and Negative Capacitance Devices
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.11
Funders
- Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province
- Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality
- Guangdong Province Introduction of Innovative R&D Team
- National Key Research and Development Program of China