Phase Synergy Enables Low-Power Ferroelectric Switching in HfO₂ Epitaxial Films.

Abstract

HfO₂-based ferroelectric materials have emerged as leading candidates for next-generation non-volatile memory technologies, owing to their nanoscale robust ferroelectricity and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility. However, challenges and debates persist in advancing and comprehensively understanding their ferroelectric behavior. In particular, conventional approaches typically regard non-ferroelectric phases as detrimental and primarily focus on suppressing their formation, yet overlooking their potentially synergistic contributions-particularly those of the tetragonal (T) phase. Here, we unambiguously clarify the beneficial role of the T-phase and introduce a phase-boundary engineering strategy that deliberately harnesses it to enhance ferroelectricity in HfO₂ films. By stabilizing optimal coherent boundaries between ferroelectric orthorhombic (O) and T phases in epitaxial La-doped HfO₂ films, we achieve significant improvements in ferroelectric properties-doubling the remanent polarization (P_r ∼ 30 µC/cm²) and substantially reducing the coercive field (E_c ∼ 3 MV/cm) by 30% compared to low-La doped samples without such boundaries. Atomic-scale electron microscopy reveals the structural nature of the atomically sharp, coherent O-T boundaries. Combined with deep-learning enhanced molecular dynamics simulations, our results unravel that these boundaries facilitate intermediate polarization states that lower the switching energy barrier. Consequently, phase coexistence shifts from an inherent drawback to a tunable design element, offering a broadly applicable route to ultra-low-power HfO₂-based nanoelectronics.