Investigation of local and integral polarization switching behavior of ultrathin HfO$_{2-}$based films

ORAL

Abstract

The discovery of ferroelectricity in hafnium oxide (HfO$_{2})$ based thin films represents an important step forward in ferroelectric based memory devices as they have several advantages over conventional perovskite based ferroelectrics like easy integration with existing Silicon technology, ease of fabrication and large band gap. Here, we report Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM) investigation of the ferroelectric switching behavior in ultrathin Hf$_{0.5}$Zr$_{0.5}$O$_{2}$ (HZO) structures with the HZO thickness range from 30 nm down to 3 nm and sub-\textmu m lateral dimensions. A `Positive Up Negative Down' (PUND) technique was used to investigate the switching dynamics down on a 10-ns time scale. We also measured the electroresistance effect and the R$_{OFF}$/R$_{ON}$ was found to be in the range of up to 15. The obtained results make ultrathin HfO$_{2}$-based films an attractive candidate for application in ferroelectric tunnel junctions as non-volatile, low-power memory devices.

*Research at the University of Nebraska was supported by the NSF through the Nebraska MRSEC under Grant No DMR-1420645.

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Authors

  • Pratyush Buragohain

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Univ of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln NE 68588-0299, USA

  • Ohheum Bak

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Univ of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln NE 68588-0299, USA

  • Anna Chernikova

    • Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region 141700, Russia

  • Andrei Zenkevich

    • Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region 141700, Russia

  • Uwe Schroeder

    • NaMLab gGmbH, Noethnitzer Str. 64, 01187 Dresden, Germany

  • Terence Mittman

    • NaMLab gGmbH, Noethnitzer Str. 64, 01187 Dresden, Germany

  • Franz Fengler

    • NaMLab gGmbH, Noethnitzer Str. 64, 01187 Dresden, Germany

  • Haidong Lu

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Univ of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln NE 68588-0299, USA

  • Alexei Gruverman

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Univ of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln NE 68588-0299, USA
    • University of Nebraska, Lincoln