A resurgence of research on ferroelectric materials has recently occurred due to their potential to enhance the performance of memory and logic. For the design and commercialization of such technologies, it is important to understand the physical behavior of ferroelectrics and the interplay with device size, geometry, and fabrication processes. Here, we report a study of geometric factors that can influence the measurement of the remanent ferroelectric polarization, an important measurement for understanding wakeup, retention, and endurance in ferroelectric technologies. The areal size scaling of W/Hf0.5Zr0.5O2/W capacitors is compared in two typical structures: an island top electrode with a continuous ferroelectric layer and an island top electrode/ferroelectric layer (etched ferroelectric layer). Error in the evaluation of the switched area leads to anomalous scaling trends and increasing apparent remanent polarization as capacitor sizes decrease, most strongly in continuous ferroelectric layer capacitors. Using TEM and electric field simulations, this is attributed to two effects: a processing artifact from ion milling that creates a foot on the top electrode and a fringe electric field penetrating outside of the capacitor area. With the correction of the switching area, the 2Pr for both samples agree (∼32 μC cm−2) and is invariant in the capacitor sizes used (down to 400 nm diameter). Our work demonstrates that the determination of the actual capacitor structure and local electric field is needed to evaluate the intrinsic ferroelectric behavior at the nanoscale.
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13 January 2025
Research Article|
January 14 2025
Geometric effects in the measurement of the remanent ferroelectric polarization at the nanoscale
Tony Chiang
;
Tony Chiang
(Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
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Megan K. Lenox
;
Megan K. Lenox
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – review & editing)
2
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia
, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA
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Tao Ma
;
Tao Ma
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing)
3
Michigan Center for Materials Characterization, University of Michigan
, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
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Jon F. Ihlefeld
;
Jon F. Ihlefeld
(Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)
2
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia
, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA
4
Charles L. Brown Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Virginia
, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA
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John T. Heron
John T. Heron
a)
(Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Appl. Phys. Lett. 126, 022904 (2025)
Article history
Received:
November 03 2024
Accepted:
December 31 2024
Citation
Tony Chiang, Megan K. Lenox, Tao Ma, Jon F. Ihlefeld, John T. Heron; Geometric effects in the measurement of the remanent ferroelectric polarization at the nanoscale. Appl. Phys. Lett. 13 January 2025; 126 (2): 022904. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0246657
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