Dynamic Studies of Polarization Switch in Ferroelectric HfZrO₂

In this talk, we review the ultrafast direct measurement on the transient ferroelectric polarization switching in hafnium zirconium oxide with a crossbar metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure including materials development, device fabrication and optimization, ultrafast electrical pulse measurement setup. A record low sub-nanosecond characteristic switching time of 925 ps was achieved on a single crossbar structure and a record fast polarization switching of 360 ps was achieved with 0.1 μm² crossbar array device structure, supported by the nucleation limited switching model. The impact of electric field, film thickness and device area on the polarization switching speed is systematically studied. The work is in close collaborations with X. Lyu, M. Si from Purdue University and P. R. Shrestha, K. P. Cheung from NIST.