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Main Authors: Baksa, Steven M., Gelin, Simon, Oturak, Seda, Spurling, Robert Jackson, Sepehrinezhad, Alireza, Jacques, Leonard, Trolier-McKinstry, Susan E., van Duin, Adri C. T., Maria, Jon-Paul, Rappe, Andrew M., Dabo, Ismaila
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.05413
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author Baksa, Steven M.
Gelin, Simon
Oturak, Seda
Spurling, Robert Jackson
Sepehrinezhad, Alireza
Jacques, Leonard
Trolier-McKinstry, Susan E.
van Duin, Adri C. T.
Maria, Jon-Paul
Rappe, Andrew M.
Dabo, Ismaila
author_facet Baksa, Steven M.
Gelin, Simon
Oturak, Seda
Spurling, Robert Jackson
Sepehrinezhad, Alireza
Jacques, Leonard
Trolier-McKinstry, Susan E.
van Duin, Adri C. T.
Maria, Jon-Paul
Rappe, Andrew M.
Dabo, Ismaila
contents Ferroelectrics are of practical interest for non-volatile data storage due to their reorientable, crystallographically defined polarization. Yet efforts to integrate conventional ferroelectrics into ultrathin memories have been frustrated by film-thickness limitations, which impede polarization reversal under low applied voltage. Wurtzite materials, including magnesium-substituted zinc oxide (Zn,Mg)O, have been shown to exhibit scalable ferroelectricity as thin films. In this work, we explain the origins of ferroelectricity in (Zn,Mg)O, showing that large strain fluctuations emerge locally in (Zn,Mg)O and can reduce local barriers to ferroelectric switching by more than 40%. We provide concurrent experimental and computational evidence of these effects by demonstrating polarization switching in ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O/ZnO heterostructures featuring built-in interfacial strain gradients. These results open up an avenue to develop scalable ferroelectrics by controlling strain fluctuations atomistically.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2311_05413
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Strain fluctuations unlock ferroelectricity in wurtzites
Baksa, Steven M.
Gelin, Simon
Oturak, Seda
Spurling, Robert Jackson
Sepehrinezhad, Alireza
Jacques, Leonard
Trolier-McKinstry, Susan E.
van Duin, Adri C. T.
Maria, Jon-Paul
Rappe, Andrew M.
Dabo, Ismaila
Materials Science
Ferroelectrics are of practical interest for non-volatile data storage due to their reorientable, crystallographically defined polarization. Yet efforts to integrate conventional ferroelectrics into ultrathin memories have been frustrated by film-thickness limitations, which impede polarization reversal under low applied voltage. Wurtzite materials, including magnesium-substituted zinc oxide (Zn,Mg)O, have been shown to exhibit scalable ferroelectricity as thin films. In this work, we explain the origins of ferroelectricity in (Zn,Mg)O, showing that large strain fluctuations emerge locally in (Zn,Mg)O and can reduce local barriers to ferroelectric switching by more than 40%. We provide concurrent experimental and computational evidence of these effects by demonstrating polarization switching in ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O/ZnO heterostructures featuring built-in interfacial strain gradients. These results open up an avenue to develop scalable ferroelectrics by controlling strain fluctuations atomistically.
title Strain fluctuations unlock ferroelectricity in wurtzites
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.05413