Wurtzite AlScN/AlN Superlattice Ferroelectrics Enable Endurance Beyond 1010 Cycles
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866912454222544896 |
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| author | Wang, Ruiqing Zhu, Feng Qian, Haoji Zhou, Jiuren Sun, Wenxin Zheng, Siying Chen, Jiajia Li, Bochang Liu, Yan Zhou, Peng Hao, Yue Han, Genquan |
| author_facet | Wang, Ruiqing Zhu, Feng Qian, Haoji Zhou, Jiuren Sun, Wenxin Zheng, Siying Chen, Jiajia Li, Bochang Liu, Yan Zhou, Peng Hao, Yue Han, Genquan |
| contents | Wurtzite ferroelectrics are rapidly emerging as a promising material class for next-generation non-volatile memory technologies, owing to their large remanent polarization, intrinsically ordered three-dimensional crystal structure, and full compatibility with CMOS processes and back-end-of-line (BEOL) integration. However, their practical implementation remains critically constrained by a severe endurance bottleneck: under conditions where the remanent polarization (2Pr) reaches or exceeds 200 uC/cm^2, devices typically undergo catastrophic failure before reaching 10^8 cycles. Here, we report a vacancy-confining superlattice strategy that addresses this limitation, achieving reliable ferroelectric switching beyond 10^10 cycles while preserving saturated polarization (2Pr >= 200 uC/cm^2). This is achieved by embedding periodic ultrathin AlN layers within AlScN films, forming wurtzite AlScN/AlN superlattices, in conjunction with a dynamic recovery protocol that actively stabilizes the defect landscape throughout repeated cycling. Atomic-resolution imaging and EELS spectrum imaging technique, supported by first-principles calculations, reveal a self-regulated defect topology in which nitrogen vacancies are spatially confined by heterostructure energy barriers and dynamically re-trapped into energetically favorable lattice sites. This dual spatial-energetic confinement mechanism effectively inhibits both long-range percolative migration and local defect clustering, enabling such an ultrahigh endurance exceeding 10^10 cycles and limiting polarization degradation to below 3% after 10^9 cycles. These findings establish nitrogen vacancy topology stabilization as a foundational design principle for reliable operation of wurtzite ferroelectrics, providing a scalable and CMOS-compatible platform for future high-endurance ferroelectric memory technologies. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_22212 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Wurtzite AlScN/AlN Superlattice Ferroelectrics Enable Endurance Beyond 1010 Cycles Wang, Ruiqing Zhu, Feng Qian, Haoji Zhou, Jiuren Sun, Wenxin Zheng, Siying Chen, Jiajia Li, Bochang Liu, Yan Zhou, Peng Hao, Yue Han, Genquan Materials Science Applied Physics Wurtzite ferroelectrics are rapidly emerging as a promising material class for next-generation non-volatile memory technologies, owing to their large remanent polarization, intrinsically ordered three-dimensional crystal structure, and full compatibility with CMOS processes and back-end-of-line (BEOL) integration. However, their practical implementation remains critically constrained by a severe endurance bottleneck: under conditions where the remanent polarization (2Pr) reaches or exceeds 200 uC/cm^2, devices typically undergo catastrophic failure before reaching 10^8 cycles. Here, we report a vacancy-confining superlattice strategy that addresses this limitation, achieving reliable ferroelectric switching beyond 10^10 cycles while preserving saturated polarization (2Pr >= 200 uC/cm^2). This is achieved by embedding periodic ultrathin AlN layers within AlScN films, forming wurtzite AlScN/AlN superlattices, in conjunction with a dynamic recovery protocol that actively stabilizes the defect landscape throughout repeated cycling. Atomic-resolution imaging and EELS spectrum imaging technique, supported by first-principles calculations, reveal a self-regulated defect topology in which nitrogen vacancies are spatially confined by heterostructure energy barriers and dynamically re-trapped into energetically favorable lattice sites. This dual spatial-energetic confinement mechanism effectively inhibits both long-range percolative migration and local defect clustering, enabling such an ultrahigh endurance exceeding 10^10 cycles and limiting polarization degradation to below 3% after 10^9 cycles. These findings establish nitrogen vacancy topology stabilization as a foundational design principle for reliable operation of wurtzite ferroelectrics, providing a scalable and CMOS-compatible platform for future high-endurance ferroelectric memory technologies. |
| title | Wurtzite AlScN/AlN Superlattice Ferroelectrics Enable Endurance Beyond 1010 Cycles |
| topic | Materials Science Applied Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.22212 |