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 d33,eff=12.7pm/V for 17 mol. % cerium under bipolar excitation and d33,eff=8pm/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.