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/cm2. However, their high coercive fields (>3 MV/cm) have limited cycling endurance to ~107 cycles in previous reports. Here, we demonstrate unprecedented control of polarization switching in AlScN, achieving write cycling endurance exceeding 1010 cycles—a thousand-fold improvement over previous wurtzite ferroelectric benchmarks. Through precise voltage modulation in 45 nm-thick Al0.64Sc0.36N capacitors, we show that while complete polarization reversal (2Pr ≈ 200 μC/cm2) sustains ~108 cycles, partial switching extends endurance beyond 1010 cycles while maintaining a substantial polarization (>30 μC/cm2 for 2Pr). 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.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge support from the Intel SRS program. D.J. also acknowledges partial support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Nanoscale Computing and Devices program (N00014-24-1-2131) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) GHz-THz program grant number FA9550-23-1-0391. D.J. also acknowledges partial support from NSF Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) program ECCS 2328743. A portion of the sample fabrication, assembly, and characterization were carried out at the Singh Center for Nanotechnology at the University of Pennsylvania, which is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure Program grant NNCI-1542153. The authors acknowledge the use of an X-ray diffraction facility supported by the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter and the NSF through the University of Pennsylvania Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) DMR-2309043.
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D.J. and R.H.O. conceived the idea and designed the overall experiments. H.C. developed the code for the endurance cycle test. H.C., Y.W., Y.H., and Z.H. conducted the current-voltage measurements. R.H.O. supervised the AlScN growth process. H.C., C.L., and Y.Z. deposited the AlScN. H.C. designed and carried out the device fabrication processes. X.T. and J.T. conducted the XRD measurement and analysis. H.C. and V.D.B. conducted the PFM measurement and analysis. D.J., R.H.O., and H.C. analyzed the data, prepared the figures, and wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the discussion, analysis of the results, and manuscript writing.
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Cho, H., Wang, Y., Leblanc, C. et al. Write cycling endurance exceeding 1010 in sub-50 nm ferroelectric AlScN. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-68221-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-68221-2
