Ultrathin Ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 Films With Exceptional Endurance Enabled by Oxygen‐Engineered Nanolaminates

Abstract

Ferroelectric hafnium zirconium oxide (Hf0.5Zr0.5O2, HZO) has emerged as a promising candidate for next‐generation nanoscale electronics owing to its CMOS compatibility and scalability. However, while oxygen vacancies are essential for stabilizing the ferroelectric phase in HZO, they also introduce significant reliability challenges. In this work, we demonstrate a nanolaminate (NL) design that effectively manipulates the spatial distribution of oxygen vacancies, maintaining ferroelectric stability while alleviating defect‐related degradation. Devices incorporating NL‐HZO films exhibit rapid switching characteristics, improved uniformity, and an endurance enhancement exceeding three orders of magnitude compared with conventional uniform films. This approach remains effective at reduced dimensions, achieving a remanent polarization above 15 µC cm−2 and endurance beyond 1012 cycles in 4 nm HZO films. These results highlight the potential of the NL strategy as a scalable and cost‐efficient method to achieve robust ferroelectricity in ultrathin HZO, advancing the development of high‐density, non‐volatile memory technologies.