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Vol. 18 (2026)

Ultrahigh Dielectric Permittivity of a Micron-Sized Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 Thin-Film Capacitor After Missing of a Mixed Tetragonal Phase

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01841-x
Wen Di Zhang
College of Integrated Circuits and Micro/Nano Electronics Innovation, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China
Bing Li
Center for Transformative Science, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, People’s Republic of China
Wei Wei Wang
Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201204, People’s Republic of China
Xing Ya Wang
Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201204, People’s Republic of China
Yan Cheng
Key Laboratory of Polar Materials and Devices (MOE), Department of Electronics, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, People’s Republic of China
An Quan Jiang
College of Integrated Circuits and Micro/Nano Electronics Innovation, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: An Quan Jiang

aqjiang@fudan.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 18 (2026), Article Number: 6

Abstract

Innovative use of HfO2-based high-dielectric-permittivity materials could enable their integration into few-nanometre-scale devices for storing substantial quantities of electrical charges, which have received widespread applications in high-storage-density dynamic random access memory and energy-efficient complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor devices. During bipolar high electric-field cycling in numbers close to dielectric breakdown, the dielectric permittivity suddenly increases by 30 times after oxygen-vacancy ordering and ferroelectric-to-nonferroelectric phase transition of near-edge plasma-treated Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin-film capacitors. Here we report a much higher dielectric permittivity of 1466 during downscaling of the capacitor into the diameter of 3.85 μm when the ferroelectricity suddenly disappears without high-field cycling. The stored charge density is as high as 183 μC cm−2 at an operating voltage/time of 1.2 V/50 ns at cycle numbers of more than 1012 without inducing dielectric breakdown. The study of synchrotron X-ray micro-diffraction patterns show missing of a mixed tetragonal phase. The image of electron energy loss spectroscopy shows the preferred oxygen-vacancy accumulation at the regions near top/bottom electrodes as well as grain boundaries. The ultrahigh dielectric-permittivity material enables high-density integration of extremely scaled logic and memory devices in the future.


Highlights:
1 Ferroelectric-to-nonferroelectric transition occurs in a micron-sized Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin-film capacitor with the generation of a giant dielectric permittivity.
2 Synchrotron X-ray micro-diffraction patterns show missing of a mixed tetragonal phase in the capacitor.
3 The stored charge density of the capacitor is as high as 183 μC cm-2 at an operating voltage/time of 1.2 V/50 ns at cycle numbers of more than 1012 without inducing dielectric breakdown.

Keywords

Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin film Ultrahigh dielectric permittivity Near-edge plasma treatment Oxygen vacancy Charge storage
Zhang, Wen Di, Bing Li, Wei Wei Wang, Xing Ya Wang, Yan Cheng, and An Quan Jiang. 2025. “Ultrahigh Dielectric Permittivity of a Micron-Sized Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 Thin-Film Capacitor After Missing of a Mixed Tetragonal Phase”. Nano-Micro Letters 18 (July):6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01841-x.
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