Investigating AlScN Ferroelectric Partial Switching Using Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM)

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Interdisciplinary Centers, Units and Projects::Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF)::Fall Research Expo
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Electrical Engineering
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Ferroelectric Materials
Piezoresponse Force Microscopy
AlScN
Partial Switching
Ferroelectric Memory
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2025-10-16
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Bulumulla, Vidhu
Hyunmin, Cho
Jariwala, Deep
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Abstract

Computing speeds in modern computers are limited by the time it takes to access memory. By implementing novel memory devices using ferroelectric AlScN, these access times can be reduced. Ferroelectric materials have two states with static electrical polarization. These states can be written using electrical pulses to align the domains. When an electrical pulse is not enough to switch the entire material, it is in a state of partial polarization where some domains are pointed up and some are pointed down. This partial polarization state could be used to implement multistate memory or low power, high endurance memory. Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM) is a measurement technique that is able to measure the ferroelectric polarization direction and magnitude. Using PFM, we are able to visualize the state of the material on a domain level. We were able to confirm that the measured PFM amplitude tends to increase with increasing set polarization level. We were also able to visualize early signs of the material fatigue which could offer further insight into making higher endurance devices.

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2025-09-15
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This project was supported with funding from the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring (PURM) program.
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