Hironori Fujisawa

A intermediate multidomain state and large crystallographic tilting of 1.78° for the (hh0)pc planes of a (001)pc-oriented single-domain Mn-doped BiFeO3 (BFMO) thin film were found when an electric field was applied along the [110]pc direction. The anomalous crystallographic tilting was caused by ferroelastic domain switching of the 109° domain switching. In addition, ferroelastic domain switching occurred via an intermediate multidomain state. To investigate these switching dynamics under an electric field, we used in situ fluorescent X-ray induced Kossel line pattern measurements with synchrotron radiation. In addition, in situ inverse X-ray fluorescence holography (XFH) experiments revealed that atomic displacement occurred under an applied electric field. We attributed the atomic displacement to crystallographic tilting induced by a converse piezoelectric effect. Our findings provide important insights for the design of piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials and devices.

HfO2-based ferroelectric materials do not necessarily require high-temperature annealing for crystallization, making them attractive for applications in transparent electronic devices on plastic or glass substrate. In this study, (Hf, Zr)O2 (HZO) films prepared via non-heating sputtering are investigated and their application to ferroelectric-gate thin-film transistors (TFTs) is demonstrated. The internal tensile stress induced by (In, Sn)O x (ITO) top-electrode deposition is found to promote the crystallization of HZO from the amorphous state to the ferroelectric phase. ITO/HZO (15-25 nm)/ITO capacitors prepared via the non-heating process exhibit ferroelectric hysteresis loops with remanent polarizations of 6-9 μC cm-2 and coercive fields of 0.6-1.1 MV cm-1. Ferroelectric-gate TFTs with a 10 nm thick ITO channel are also fabricated via the non-heating process. These TFTs show nonvolatile operation with an on/off ratio of ∼10. These findings demonstrate the potential of HZO for transparent devices on substrates with low thermal resistance prepared via the non-heating process.