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The fundamentals and applications of ferroelectric HfO2

Nature Reviews Materials volume 7, pages 653–669 (2022)Cite this article

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A Publisher Correction to this article was published on 20 April 2022

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Abstract

Since the first report of ferroelectricity in a Si-doped HfO2 film in 2011, HfO2-based materials have attracted much interest from the ferroelectric materials and devices community. However, in HfO2-based bulk materials, the ferroelectric phase is not the one with the lowest free energy. It is, therefore, crucial to identify the possible thermodynamic and kinetic drivers for such an unexpected phase formation. The main difference between this type of material and conventional perovskite-based ferroelectrics is the movement of oxygen ions upon polarization switching, which complicates the structural examination of samples. Nonetheless, concerted efforts in academia and industry have substantially improved our understanding of the material properties and root causes of the unexpected formation of the ferroelectric phase. These insights help us understand how to induce the polar phase even in bulk materials. In this Review, we discuss in depth the properties and origin of ferroelectricity in HfO2-based materials, carefully evaluating numerous reports in the field, which are sometimes contradictory, and showing how thermodynamic and kinetic factors influence phase formation almost equally. We also survey possible applications and prospects for further development.

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Fig. 1: Phase diagrams of HfO2 and ZrO2 and temperature-dependent phase transitions.
Fig. 2: Ferroelectric phase formation in HfO2 bulk samples and epitaxial thin films.
Fig. 3: Factors affecting ferroelectricity in HfO2 thin films.
Fig. 4: Domain dynamics and polarization switching kinetics.
Fig. 5: Memory devices based on ferroelectric materials.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank A. Kersch for valuable discussions. U.S. and T.M. were financially supported out of the Saxonian State budget approved by the delegates of the Saxon State Parliament. M.H.P. was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (2020R1C1C1008193). C.S.H. was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (2020R1A3B2079882).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Uwe Schroeder, Min Hyuk Park.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NaMLab gGmbH, Dresden, Germany

    Uwe Schroeder & Thomas Mikolajick

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan, Republic of Korea

    Min Hyuk Park

  3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Min Hyuk Park & Cheol Seong Hwang

  4. Chair of Nanoelectronics, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Thomas Mikolajick

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Schroeder, U., Park, M.H., Mikolajick, T. et al. The fundamentals and applications of ferroelectric HfO2. Nat Rev Mater 7, 653–669 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-022-00431-2

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