Coercive Field Control in Epitaxial Ferroelectric Hf<sub>0.5</sub>Zr<sub>0.5</sub>O<sub>2</sub> Thin Films by Nanostructure Engineering
The discovery of ferroelectric hafnium oxide has spurred great interest in the semiconductor industry, enabled by its complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor compatibility and scalability. However, many questions remain regarding the origin of the ferroelectric phases and the tunability of ferroelectric properties. In this work, we explore the influence of laser fluence on coercive field (<i>E</i><sub>c</sub>) in 10 nm-thick epitaxial rhombohedrally distorted orthorhombic (<i>r</i>-d <i>o</i>) Hf<sub>0.5</sub>Zr<sub>0.5</sub>O<sub>2</sub> (HZO) films grown by pulsed laser deposition on La<sub>0.7</sub>Sr<sub>0.3</sub>MnO<sub>3</sub>-buffered (001) SrTiO<sub>3</sub> substrates. When laser fluence is decreased from 1.3 J cm<sup>-2</sup> to 0.5 J cm<sup>-2</sup>, the E<sub>c</sub> decreases from ∼3.3 to ∼2.7 MV/cm. Lower laser fluence produces pure (111) oriented grains, while higher laser fluence produces an additional (11-1) orientation, leading to low angle tilt grain boundaries and associated dislocations which can act as domain pinning sites. The stabilization of the (11-1) orientation and the grain tilting at higher deposition energetics are consistent with density functional theory calculations. To achieve a low <i>E</i><sub>c</sub> in HZO, which is important for energy-efficient ferroelectric memory applications, low energetic growth conditions are required, producing the most highly perfect films.
Authors
- Caterina Ducati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3366-6442)
- Maximilian T. Becker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8221-1842)
- Megan O. Hill
- Luis S. A. Marques (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7477-6934)
- Judith L. MacManus‐Driscoll (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4987-6620)
- Hongyi Dou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3496-7933)
- Alexandre Silva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7155-6207)
- Ji Soo Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0745-8754)
- Veniero Lenzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3633-1966)
- Yizhi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0422-0006)
- Zedong Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8069-0205)
- Simon M. Fairclough (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3781-8212)
- Jianan Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3226-2761)
- Nives Strkalj (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8293-8577)
- Haiyan Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7397-1209)
- José Silva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3485-7032)
- Yixuan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9522-8651)
- Ziyi Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4854-4926)
Institutions
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- University of Aveiro (PT)
- University of Minho (PT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
- Published
- 2025-04-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c21787
- Citations
- 8
- Primary Topic
- Ferroelectric and Negative Capacitance Devices
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.84
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology
- Royal Academy of Engineering
- Centro de Investigação em Materiais Cerâmicos e Compósitos
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Trinity College, University of Cambridge
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
- Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge
- H2020 European Research Council
- HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions