Unveiling interfacial dead layer in wurtzite ferroelectrics

Jinlin Wang, Yun-Qin Li, Rui Wang, Qi Liu, Haotian Ye, Ping Wang (), Xifan Xu, Huaiyuan Yang, Fang Liu, Bowen Sheng, Liuyun Yang, Xiaoyang Yin, Yi Tong, Tao Wang (), Wen-Yi Tong (), Xin-Zheng Li, Chun-Gang Duan, Bo Shen and Xinqiang Wang ()
Additional contact information
Jinlin Wang: Peking University
Yun-Qin Li: East China Normal University
Rui Wang: Peking University
Qi Liu: Peking University
Haotian Ye: Peking University
Ping Wang: Peking University
Xifan Xu: Peking University
Huaiyuan Yang: Peking University
Fang Liu: Peking University
Bowen Sheng: Peking University
Liuyun Yang: Peking University
Xiaoyang Yin: Peking University
Yi Tong: Suzhou Laboratory
Tao Wang: Peking University
Wen-Yi Tong: East China Normal University
Xin-Zheng Li: Peking University
Chun-Gang Duan: East China Normal University
Bo Shen: Peking University
Xinqiang Wang: Peking University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Wurtzite ferroelectrics hold immense promise to revolutionize modern micro- and nano-electronics due to their compatibility with semiconductor technologies. However, the presence of interfacial dead layers with irreversible polarization limits their development and applications, and the formation mechanisms of dead layers remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that dead layer formation in ScAlN, a representative wurtzite ferroelectric, originates from a high density of nitrogen vacancies in combination with interfacial strain. Atomic-scale investigations using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), supported by first-principles calculations, reveal that compressive strain near the ScAlN/GaN interface reduces the formation energy of nitrogen vacancies, promoting their generation. These vacancies degrade dielectric properties and raise the ferroelectric switching barrier, the latter further exacerbated by compressive strain. These combined effects suppress polarization reversibility near the interface. This work elucidates the microscopic origin of interfacial dead layers and highlights the significance of defect and strain engineering in wurtzite ferroelectrics, which are essential to advancing their integration and scalability in next-generation electronic devices.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-61291-2 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-61291-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61291-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().