Domains and domain dynamics in fluorite-structured ferroelectrics

Ferroelectricity in fluorite-structured ferroelectrics such as HfO2 and ZrO2 has been attracting increasing interest since its first publication in 2011. Fluorite-structured ferroelectrics are considered to be promising for semiconductor devices because of their compatibility with the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology and scalability for highly dense information storage. The research on fluorite-structured ferroelectrics during the first decade of their conceptualization has been mainly focused on elucidating the origin of their ferroelectricity and improving the performance of electronic devices based on such ferroelectrics. Furthermore, as is known, to achieve optimal performance, the emerging biomimicking electronic devices as well as conventional semiconductor devices based on the classical von Neumann architecture require high operating speed, sufficient reliability, and multilevel data storage. Nanoscale electronic devices with fluorite-structured ferroelectrics serve as candidates for these device systems and, thus, have been intensively studied primarily because in ferroelectric materials the switching speed, reliability, and multilevel polarizability are known to be strongly correlated with the domains and domain dynamics. Although there have been important theoretical and experimental studies related to domains and domain dynamics in fluorite-structured ferroelectrics, they are yet to be comprehensively reviewed. Therefore, to provide a strong foundation for research in this field, herein, domains, domain dynamics, and emerging applications, particularly in neuromorphic computing, of fluorite-structured ferroelectrics are comprehensively reviewed based on the existing literature.

Automated summary

Fluorite-structured ferroelectrics like HfO2 and ZrO2 have garnered increasing interest since 2011 for their potential in semiconductor devices and high-density information storage. Research on these materials has focused on understanding their ferroelectric properties and enhancing device performance to meet the requirements for high operating speed, reliability, and multilevel data storage.