Study on the size effect in Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 films thinner than 8 nm before and after wake-up field cycling

The effects of film thickness and wake-up field cycling on the ferroelectricity in Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 films thinner than 8 nm were carefully examined. The Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 films became more antiferroelectric-like with decreasing film thickness in pristine state, whereas all the Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 films showed ferroelectric characteristics after wake-up process. The decrease in the coercive field with decreasing film thickness could be understood based on the depolarization correction. From the temperature-dependent characterization, the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic phase transition during wake-up process is believed to be a thermally activated process, and the estimated activation energy was ∼3.42 ± 0.17 kJ/mol.

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