Design and Multi-State Tunneling Characteristics of Perovskite Ferroelectric Ultrathin Films With Low-Driving Fields

DONG Yanzhe; LU Xiaoyan

doi:10.21656/1000-0887.450224

Volume 45 Issue 10

Oct. 2024

Turn off MathJax

Article Contents

Article Navigation > Applied Mathematics and Mechanics > 2024 > 45(10): 1320-1331

DONG Yanzhe, LU Xiaoyan. Design and Multi-State Tunneling Characteristics of Perovskite Ferroelectric Ultrathin Films With Low-Driving Fields[J]. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 2024, 45(10): 1320-1331. doi: 10.21656/1000-0887.450224

Citation:

PDF( 3210 KB)

Design and Multi-State Tunneling Characteristics of Perovskite Ferroelectric Ultrathin Films With Low-Driving Fields

doi: 10.21656/1000-0887.450224

DONG Yanzhe^,,
LU Xiaoyan

School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, P.R.China

Funds:

The National Science Foundation of China(12372148)

Received Date: 2004-08-01
Rev Recd Date: 2204-09-18

Available Online: 2024-10-31

Publish Date: 2024-10-01

Abstract

Abstract

The ferroelectric tunneling junction, with a metal-ferroelectric ultra-thin film-metal structure, has different tunneling resistance states through polarization manipulation, leading to potential applications in next-generation information storage devices with low-power consumption, fast reading/writing speed, high storage density, and non-volatility. However, the ferroelectric thin films still experience high-temperature rises with reduced stability due to high driving fields, and reducing the driving electric field is crucial for designing ferroelectric tunneling devices. The ferroelectric thin films with coexisting domains have lowered barriers and decreased driving electric fields for domain switching, which are achieved through substrate manipulation. Herein the substrate effects on the driving field, the tunneling resistance switching ratio and the tunneling properties, were studied based on the WKB approximation combined with the Landau phenomenological theory. The results show that, the ferroelectric tunnel junction with coexisting domains exhibits 3 resistive states corresponding to out-of-plane and in-plane polarizations. The effective driving electric field can be reduced to 25 MV/m, which is 76% lower than that with 2 resistive single domains. The proposed theoretical framework provides a fundamental understanding of the formation of multi-state and reduction of the driving field for low-energy, multi-resistance ferroelectric storage devices.
- ferroelectric multi-level tunneling,
- low consumption,
- coexisting domain,
- Landau phenomenological theory,
- substrate misfit strain

FullText(HTML)

References(41)

References

ATHLE R, BORG M. Ferroelectric tunnel junction memristors for in-memory computing accelerators[J].Advanced Intelligent Systems,2024,6(3): 2300554.

[2]GARCIA V, BIBES M. Ferroelectric tunnel junctions for information storage and processing[J].Nature Communications,2014,5(1): 4289.

[3]DU X Z, SUN H Y, WANG H, et al. High-speed switching and giant electroresistance in an epitaxial Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂-based ferroelectric tunnel junction memristor[J].ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces,2022,14(1): 1355-1361.

[4]ESAKI A L, LAIBOWITZ R B, STILES P J. Polar switch[J].IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin,1971,13(8): 2161-2164.

[5]YANO Y,LIJIMA K, DAITOH Y, et al. Epitaxial growth and dielectric properties of BaTiO₃ films on Pt electrodes by reactive evaporation[J].Journal of Applied Physics,1994,76(12): 7833-7838.

[6]MARUYAMA T, SAITOH M, SAKAI I, et al. Growth and characterization of 10-nm-thickc-axis oriented epitaxial PbZr_0.25Ti_0.75O₃ thin films on (100)Si substrate[J].Applied Physics Letters,1998,73(24): 3524-3526.

[7]COHEN R E. Origin of ferroelectricity in perovskite oxides[J].Nature,1992,358: 136-138.

[8]JUNQUERA J, GHOSEZ P. Critical thickness for ferroelectricity in perovskite ultrathin films[J].Nature,2003,422(6931): 506-509.

[9]FONG D D, STEPHENSON G B, STREIFFER S K, et al. Ferroelectricity in ultrathin perovskite films[J].Science,2004,304(5677): 1650-1653.

[10]CONTRERAS J R, KOHLSTEDT H, POPPE U, et al. Resistive switching in metal-ferroelectric-metal junctions[J].Applied Physics Letters,2003,83(22): 4595-4597.

[11]KOHLSTEDT H, PERTSEV N A, CONTRERASJ R, et al. Theoretical current-voltage characteristics of ferroelectric tunnel junctions[J].Physical Review B,2005,72(12): 125341.

[12]WEN Z, WU D. Ferroelectric tunnel junctions: modulations on the potential barrier[J].Advanced Materials,2020,32(27): 1904123.

[13]JIA Y Y, YANG Q Q, FANG Y W, et al. Giant tunnelling electroresistance in atomic-scale ferroelectric tunnel junctions[J].Nature Communications,2024,15(1): 693.

[14]MAX B, HOFFMANN M, MULAOSMANOVIC H, et al. Hafnia-based double-layer ferroelectric tunnel junctions as artificial synapses for neuromorphic computing[J].ACS Applied Electronic Materials,2020,2(12): 4023-4033.

[15]WANG X, WU M, WEI F S, et al. Electroresistance of Pt/BaTiO₃/LaNiO₃ ferroelectric tunnel junctions and its dependence on BaTiO₃ thickness[J].Materials Research Express,2019,6(4): 046307.

[16]WANG H, GUAN Z, LI J, et al. Silicon-compatible ferroelectric tunnel junctions with a SiO₂/Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O_{2_{composite barrier as low-voltage and ultra-high-speed memristors[J].Advanced Materials,2024,36(15): 2211305.}}

[17]BOYN S, GARCIA V, FUSIL S, et al. Engineering ferroelectric tunnel junctions through potential profile shaping[J].APL Materials,2015,3(6): 061101.

[18]WEN Z, LI C, WU D, et al. Ferroelectric-field-effect-enhanced electroresistance in metal/ferroelectric/semi-conductor tunnel junctions[J].Nature Materials,2013,12(7): 617-621.

[19]LI X Q, LIU J Q, HUANG J Q, et al. Epitaxial strain enhanced ferroelectric polarization toward a giant tunneling electroresistance[J].ACS Nano,2024,18(11): 7989-8001.

[20]WANG J, JU S, LI Z Y. The converse piezoelectric effect on electrontunnelling across a junction with a ferroelectric-ferromagnetic composite barrier[J].Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics,2010,43(13): 135003.

[21]LU X Y, CAO W W, JIANG W H, et al. Converse-piezoelectric effect on current-voltage characteristics of symmetric ferroelectric tunnel junctions[J].Journal of Applied Physics,2012,111: 014103.

[22]SOKOLOV A, BAK O, LU H, et al. Effect of epitaxial strain on tunneling electroresistance in ferroelectric tunnel junctions[J].Nanotechnology,2015,26(30): 305202.

[23]WANG Z J, GUAN Z Y, SUN H Y, et al. High-speed nanoscale ferroelectric tunnel junction for multilevel memory and neural network computing[J].ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces,2022,14(21): 24602-24609.

[24]RUAN J J, QIU X B, YUAN Z S, et al. Improved memory functions in multiferroic tunnel junctions with a dielectric/ferroelectric composite barrier[J].Applied Physics Letters,2015,107(23): 232902.

[25]L W M, LI C J, ZHENG L M, et al. Multi-nonvolatile state resistive switching arising from ferroelectricity and oxygen vacancy migration[J].Advanced Materials,2017,29(24): 1606165.

[26]DAMODARAN A R, PANDYA S, AGAR J C, et al. Three-state ferroelastic switching and large electromechanical responses in PbTiO3 thin films[J].Advanced Materials,2017,29(37): 1702069.

[27]LANGENBERG E, PAIK H, SMITH E H, et al. Strain-engineered ferroelastic structures in PbTiO₃ films and their control by electric fields[J].ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces,2020,12(18): 20691-20703.

[28]LU X Y, CHEN Z H, CAO Y, et al. Mechanical-force-induced non-local collective ferroelastic switching in epitaxial lead-titanate thin films[J].Nature Communications,2019,10(1): 3951.

[29]DONG Y Z, LU X Y, FAN J H, et al. Strain engineering of domain coexistence in epitaxial lead-titanite thin films[J].Coatings,2022,12(4): 542.

[30]LI F, CABRAL M J, XU B, et al. Giant piezoelectricity of Sm-doped Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-PbTiO₃ single crystals[J].Science,2019,364(6437): 264-268.

[31]WANG B, LI F, CHEN L Q. Inverse domain-size dependence of piezoelectricity in ferroelectric crystals[J].Advanced Materials,2021,33(51): 2105071.

[32]KOUKHAR V G, PERTSEV N A, WASER R. Thermodynamic theory of epitaxial ferroelectric thin films with dense domain structures[J].Physical Review B,2001,64(21): 214103.

[33]SIMMONS J G. Generalized formula for the electric tunnel effect between similar electrodes separated by a thin insulating film[J].Journal of Applied Physics,1963,34(6): 1793-1803.

[34]MEHTA R R, SILVERMAN B D, JACOBS J T. Depolarization fields in thin ferroelectric films[J].Journal of Applied Physics,1973,44(8): 3379-3385.

[35]PERTSEV N A, ZEMBILGOTOV A G, TAGANTSEV A K. Effect of mechanical boundary conditions on phase diagrams of epitaxial ferroelectric thin films[J].Physical Review Letters,1998,80(9): 1988-1991.

[36]KUKHAR V G, PERTSEV N A, KOHLSTEDT H, et al. Polarization states of polydomain epitaxial Pb(Zr_1-xTi_x)O₃ thin films and their dielectric properties[J].Physical Review B,2006,73(21): 214103.

[37]KIGHELMAN Z, DAMJANOVIC D, CANTONI M, et al. Properties of ferroelectric PbTiO3 thin films[J].Journal of Applied Physics,2002,91(3): 1495-1501.

[38]BOYN S, GIROD S, GARCIA V, et al. High-performance ferroelectric memory based on fully patterned tunnel junctions[J].Applied Physics Letters,2014,104(5): 052909.

[39]DONG Y Z, LU X Y. Multistep polarization switching and reduced coercive field in lead titanate thin films[J].Physical Review B,2024,109(21): 214101.

[40]GERRA G, TAGANTSEV A K, SETTER N, et al. Ionic polarizability of conductive metal oxides and critical thickness for ferroelectricity in BaTiO₃[J].Physical Review Letters,2006,96(10): 107603.

[41]WOO C H, ZHENG Y. Depolarization in modeling nano-scale ferroelectrics using the Landau free energy functional[J].Applied Physics A,2008,91(1): 59-63.

Relative Articles

Supplements(0)

Cited By

Proportional views