Record Fast Polarization Switching Observed in Ferroelectric Hafnium Oxide Crossbar Arrays

The polarization switching speed of ferroelectric (FE) hafnium zirconium oxide (HZO) is studied with the device size down to sub-μm in lateral dimension. Ultrafast measurement of transient switching current on metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) device with a crossbar array or a single crossbar structure is performed to analyze the switching dynamics. A record fast polarization switching of 360 ps is achieved for 15 nm thick HZO with 0.1 μm
²
crossbar array device structure. The observed record switching speed is found to be limited by domain wall propagation speed in the nucleation limited switching process. It is further verified after significant reduction of RC delay of the devices and the implementation of crossbar array structure.