Write cycling endurance exceeding 1010 in sub-50 nm ferroelectric AlScN

Abstract

Abstract Wurtzite ferroelectrics, particularly aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN), have emerged as a promising material platform for non-volatile memories, offering high polarization values exceeding 100 μC/cm 2 . However, their high coercive fields (>3 MV/cm) have limited cycling endurance to ~10 7 cycles in previous reports. Here, we demonstrate unprecedented control of polarization switching in AlScN, achieving write cycling endurance exceeding 10 10 cycles—a thousand-fold improvement over previous wurtzite ferroelectric benchmarks. Through precise voltage modulation in 45 nm-thick Al 0.64 Sc 0.36 N capacitors, we show that while complete polarization reversal (2P r  ≈ 200 μC/cm 2 ) sustains ~10 8 cycles, partial switching extends endurance beyond 10 10 cycles while maintaining a substantial polarization (>30 μC/cm 2 for 2P r ). This exceptional endurance, combined with breakdown fields approaching 10 MV/cm in optimized 10 μm diameter devices, represents the highest reported values for any wurtzite ferroelectric. Our findings establish a new paradigm for reliability in nitride ferroelectrics, demonstrating that controlled partial polarization and size scaling enables both high endurance and energy-efficient operation.