Effect of Strain Induced by Varying Bottom Electrode Thicknesses on Ferroelectric Properties of Pt/Al0.7Sc0.3N/Pt Capacitors.
Fang Yuan Y, Li Xiaoxi X, Li Jiawei J, Xu Haiwen H et al.
Aluminum scandium nitride (Al1-xScxN) has emerged as a promising candidate for next-generation nonvolatile memories owing to its excellent large remanent polarization (Pr), high Curie temperature, and CMOS compatibility. However, its ferroelectric characteristics are highly sensitive to strain, which limits device scalability. Herein, we systematically investigate the effect of the relative vertical strain, modulated via the bottom electrode thickness, on the ferroelectric behavior of Pt/Al0.7Sc0.3N/Pt capacitors. The X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that increasing the Pt thickness from 10 to 50 nm reduces the relative vertical strain from 0.27 to -0.26%. The optimized 50 nm Pt electrode yields a lower coercive field (Ec = 4.38 MV/cm) and enhanced remanent polarization (2Pr = 287.72 μC/cm2). First-principles calculations indicate that the reduced relative vertical strain decreases the energy barrier for polarization reversal, accounting for the lower Ec. Meanwhile, the temperature-dependent leakage analysis and theoretical modeling show that the smaller relative vertical strain decreases the trap energy level and the nitrogen-vacancy formation energy, resulting in the increased leakage. These findings establish a clear correlation between electrode-induced strain and ferroelectric properties in AlScN, providing guidance for strain engineering in high-density ferroelectric memory integration.