Effects of electrode materials on the performance of Zr0.75Hf0.25O2-based ferroelectric thin films via post deposition annealing

In this work, the effects of top electrode (TE) and bottom electrode (BE) on the ferroelectric properties of zirconia-based Zr0.75Hf0.25O2(ZHO) thin films annealed by post-deposition annealing (PDA) are investigated in detail. Among W/ZHO/BE capacitors (BE = W, Cr or TiN), W/ZHO/W delivered the highest ferroelectric remanent polarization and the best endurance performance, revealing that the BE with a smaller coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) plays a vital role in enhancing the ferroelectricity of fluorite-structure ZHO. For TE/ZHO/W structures (TE = W, Pt, Ni, TaN or TiN), the stability of TE metals seems to have a larger impact on the performance over their CTE values. This work provides a guideline to modulate and optimize the ferroelectric performance of PDA-treated ZHO-based thin films.