Direct Observation of Nanoscale Polarization Switching in HZO Ferroelectrics Using STEM-EBIC
Abstract
We report the experimental observation of discrete ferroelectric switching down to 0.475 nm x 0.475 nm in HfO2-based ferroelectrics using correlated STEM electron beam induced current (EBIC) imaging and nanoscale voltage pulsing. These high-resolution measurements reveal single-domain switching events characterized by abrupt, bi-state transitions with no intermediate polarization states. By mapping polarization-voltage behavior and switching kinetics across thousands of domains, we extract spatially resolved switching thresholds (Emin), switching speeds (tsw), and remanent polarization (2Pr), uncovering robust scaling trends. Larger domains exhibit nearly twice the polarization and faster switching despite higher Emin, while smaller domains switch more slowly at the same field. Sub-domain imaging enables quantification of variation scaling: polarization variation increases linearly logarithmically with area, with inter-domain variation dominating intra-domain variation. Importantly, we show that multi-bit operation arises from the statistical distribution of domain-level switching, rather than partial polarization, enabling distinct and reliable states in devices as small as 0.01 um2. These findings provide a foundational experimental framework for designing scalable, multi-bit ferroelectric memory based on grain- and domain-level heterogeneity.
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BibTeX
@misc{venkatesan2026direct,
title = {{Direct Observation of Nanoscale Polarization Switching in HZO Ferroelectrics Using STEM-EBIC}},
author = {Prasanna Venkatesan and Yueyun Chen and Tristan P. O'Neill and Ho Leung Chan and Hari Jayasankar and Priyankka Ravikumar and Zekai Wang and Shelby S. Fields and Megan K. Lenox and William A. Hubbard and Andrea Padovani and Luca Larcher and Gaurav Thareja and Shimeng Yu and Jon F. Ihlefeld and Wanki Kim and Daewon Ha and Brian C. Regan and Asif Khan},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.06363},
eprint = {2610.06363},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.06363},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Direct Observation of Nanoscale Polarization Switching in HZO Ferroelectrics Using STEM-EBIC
AU - Prasanna Venkatesan
AU - Yueyun Chen
AU - Tristan P. O'Neill
AU - Ho Leung Chan
AU - Hari Jayasankar
AU - Priyankka Ravikumar
AU - Zekai Wang
AU - Shelby S. Fields
AU - Megan K. Lenox
AU - William A. Hubbard
AU - Andrea Padovani
AU - Luca Larcher
AU - Gaurav Thareja
AU - Shimeng Yu
AU - Jon F. Ihlefeld
AU - Wanki Kim
AU - Daewon Ha
AU - Brian C. Regan
AU - Asif Khan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.06363
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.06363
AB - We report the experimental observation of discrete ferroelectric switching down to 0.475 nm x 0.475 nm in HfO2-based ferroelectrics using correlated STEM electron beam induced current (EBIC) imaging and nanoscale voltage pulsing. These high-resolution measurements reveal single-domain switching events characterized by abrupt, bi-state transitions with no intermediate polarization states. By mapping polarization-voltage behavior and switching kinetics across thousands of domains, we extract spatially resolved switching thresholds (Emin), switching speeds (tsw), and remanent polarization (2Pr), uncovering robust scaling trends. Larger domains exhibit nearly twice the polarization and faster switching despite higher Emin, while smaller domains switch more slowly at the same field. Sub-domain imaging enables quantification of variation scaling: polarization variation increases linearly logarithmically with area, with inter-domain variation dominating intra-domain variation. Importantly, we show that multi-bit operation arises from the statistical distribution of domain-level switching, rather than partial polarization, enabling distinct and reliable states in devices as small as 0.01 um2. These findings provide a foundational experimental framework for designing scalable, multi-bit ferroelectric memory based on grain- and domain-level heterogeneity.
ER -