Structure, thermodynamics, and crystallization of amorphous hafnia

We investigate theoretically amorphous hafnia using the first principles melt and quench method. We identify two types of amorphous structures of hafnia. Type I and type II are related to tetragonal and monoclinic hafnia, respectively. We find type II structure to show stronger disorder than type I. Using the phonon density of states, we calculate the specific heat capacity for type II amorphous hafnia. Using the nudged elastic band method, we show that the averaged transition barrier between the type II amorphous hafnia and monoclinic phase is approximately 0.09 eV/HfO2. The crystallization temperature is estimated to be 421 K. The calculations suggest an explanation for the low thermal stability of amorphous hafnia. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.