Investigation of the large-signal electromechanical behavior of ferroelectric HfO2-CeO2 thin films prepared by chemical solution deposition

Abstract

In this work, the piezoelectric properties of chemical solution deposition derived ferroelectric HfO2-CeO2 thin films deposited on platinized silicon substrates are investigated. Large-signal strain-field measurements show an effective piezoelectric coefficient of approximately d 33 , eff = 12.7 pm / V for 17 mol. % cerium under bipolar excitation and d 33 , eff = 8 pm / V under unipolar excitation. Progressive bipolar electric field cycling leads to a reduction in the overall field induced strain although no fatigue with regards to the polarization is observed. To explain this, we propose a model explanation based on changes in the polarization reversal pathway from a primarily ferroelastic, i.e., 90 ° domain wall mediated switching, to a 180 ° type switching. Furthermore, unipolar strain-field measurements reveal a negative intrinsic piezoelectric coefficient in the absence of any ferroelastic contribution, confirming theoretical predictions. The results suggest that the ferroelastic contribution to the field-induced strain needs to be stabilized in Hafnia-based ferroelectric materials to make them more feasible for micro-electromechanical systems.