Examination of Temperature-Dependent Polarization Switching Characteristics in Ferroelectric Ga-Doped HfO₂ Thin Films

Abstract

The ferroelectric properties, polarization switching kinetics, and endurance characteristics of Ga-doped HfO2(Ga-HfO2) capacitors have been systematically investigated across a temperature range of 300–473 K. The results reveal a strong temperature dependence: remanent polarization ( ${P}_{\text {r}}$ ) increases, coercive voltage decreases, the imprint effect intensifies, polarization switching slows, and endurance degrades with rising temperature. Notably, the Ga-HfO2 device still maintains stable ferroelectricity at 473 K, with a $2{P}_{\text {r}}$ of $44~\mu $ C/cm2. Besides, over 80% polarization reversal can be achieved with 3.2-V/500-ns excitation for $10^{{4}}$ - $\mu $ m2 Ga-HfO2 devices. Moreover, the endurance properties of Ga-HfO2 devices surpass 2x ${10}^{{5}}$ cycles at 3.0 V/100 kHz, outperforming those of Zr-doped counterparts at 473 K. The study suggests that defect behaviors primarily drive the temperature dependence in HfO2 devices, providing valuable insights for reliable ferroelectric memory.