Depolarization mitigated in ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 ultrathin films (< 5 nm) on Si substrate by interface engineering

(Hf,Zr)O-2 offers considerable potential for next-generation semiconductor devices owing to its nonvolatile spontaneous polarization at the nanoscale. However, scaling this material to sub-5 nm thickness poses several challenges, including the formation of an interfacial layer and high trap concentration. In particular, a low-k SiO2 interfacial layer is naturally formed when (Hf,Zr)O-2 films are directly grown on a Si substrate, leading to high depolarization fields and rapid reduction of the remanent polarization. To address these issues, we conducted a study to significantly improve ferroelectricity and switching endurance of (Hf,Zr)O-2 films with sub-5 nm thicknesses by inserting a TiO2 interfacial layer. The deposition of a Ti film prior to Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 film deposition resulted in a high-k TiO2 interfacial layer and prevented the direct contact of Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 with Si. Our findings show that the high-k TiO2 interfacial layer can reduce the SiO2/Si interface trap density and the depolarization field, resulting in a switchable polarization of 60.2 mu C/cm(2) for a 5 nm thick Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 film. Therefore, we propose that inserting a high-k TiO2 interfacial layer between the Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 film and the Si substrate may offer a promising solution to enhancing the ferroelectricity and reliability of (Hf,Zr)O-2 grown on the Si substrate and can pave the way for next-generation semiconductor devices with improved performance.