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In this paper, using a combination of pulse testing measurements and piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), an investigation of the polarization reversal behavior and the accompanying resistive switching in the Al0.72Sc0.28N thin film capacitors is reported. The obtained results reveal a transition from the nucleation‐limited switching (NLS) in the low field range toward the more uniform switching described by the Kolmogorov–Avrami–Ishibashi (KAI) model in the high field range. It is found that the Al0.72Sc0.28N capacitors exhibit an unusually steep change in the switching time– it decreases by five orders of magnitude with a moderate increase of the applied field. This feature is caused by a significantly higher activation field value (≈126 MV cm−1) in comparison with the conventional perovskite ferroelectrics. PFM visualization of the field‐induced domain dynamics has allowed the evaluation of the nucleation rate and domain wall velocity. Furthermore, capacitors in the polydomain state generated by partial switching of polarization exhibit a significant (up to two orders of magnitude) increase in the steady‐state conductance. This effect is likely caused by the injection of strongly inclined conducting 180° domain walls. Resistance tunability offers additional functionalities to the Al1‐xScxN devices where conductive domain walls are used as active elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through its dependence on low symmetry crystal phases, ferroelectricity is inherently a property tied to the lower temperature ranges of the phase diagram for a given material. This paper presents conclusive evidence that in the case of ferroelectric Al1−xScxN, low temperature has to be seen as a purely relative term, since its ferroelectric-to-paraelectric transition temperature is confirmed to surpass 1100 °C and thus the transition temperature of virtually any other thin film ferroelectric. We arrived at this conclusion through investigating the structural stability of 0.4–2 μm thick Al0.73Sc0.27N films grown on Mo bottom electrodes via in situ high-temperature x-ray diffraction and permittivity measurements. Our studies reveal that the wurtzite-type structure of Al0.73Sc0.27N is conserved during the entire 1100 °C annealing cycle, apparent through a constant c/a lattice parameter ratio. In situ permittivity measurements performed up to 1000 °C strongly support this conclusion and include what could be the onset of a diverging permittivity only at the very upper end of the measurement interval. Our in situ measurements are well-supported by ex situ (scanning) transmission electron microscopy and polarization and capacity hysteresis measurements. These results confirm the structural stability on the sub-μm scale next to the stability of the inscribed polarization during the complete 1100 °C annealing treatment. Thus, Al1−xScxN, there is the first readily available thin film ferroelectric with a temperature stability that surpasses virtually all thermal budgets occurring in microtechnology, be it during fabrication or the lifetime of a device—even in harshest environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]