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Huaiyu Chen

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Electro-Chemo-Mechanical Coupling in Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 Ferroionic Heterostructures

Author

  • Achilles Bergne
  • Denis Alikin
  • Milica Vasiljevic
  • Victor B. Tinti
  • Javier Zamudio-García
  • Leonardo Soares de Oliveira
  • Megan Landberg
  • Dimitrios Koukoulis
  • Huaiyu Chen
  • Jesper Wallentin
  • David Marrero-López
  • Astri Bjørnetun Haugen
  • Sizhao Huang
  • Dennis Christensen
  • Nini Pryds
  • Alexander Tselev
  • Andrei Kholkin
  • Vincenzo Esposito
Show all

Summary, in English

Ferroelectricity in Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) originates from a polymorphic landscape where the metastable orthorhombic phase competes with monoclinic and tetragonal forms, making functional properties highly sensitive to structural instability. Recent strategies have exploited ionic-vacancy mechanisms, either through redox interactions with the environment or by employing ferroionic heterostructures, to enhance ferroelectric performance. Here, we embrace the ferroionic heterostructure approach and demonstrate that dynamic oxygen-vacancy exchange at epitaxial junctions produces an active interplay between ferroelectric and ionic layers. Epitaxial heterostructures with La0.67Sr0.33MnO3-δ (LSMO), yttria-stabilized ZrO2-δ (YSZ), and Gd-doped CeO2-δ (CGO) reveal coupled electro-chemo-mechanical responses, including ferroelectric diode characteristics and subtle lattice distortions. Epitaxial fluorite-fluorite interfaces act as vacancy-exchange gates that bias polymorphism, enhance polarization, strengthen piezoelectric response, and suppress leakage, in contrast to the electronically dominated perovskite-fluorite junctions. These findings show that ferroionic heterostructures host reciprocal vacancy-driven dynamics, establishing them as a platform for defect-programmable ferroelectricity and tunable functionality in hafnia-based oxides.

Department/s

  • Lund Laser Centre, LLC
  • LTH Profile Area: Photon Science and Technology
  • LU Profile Area: Light and Materials
  • LTH Profile Area: Nanoscience and Semiconductor Technology
  • NanoLund: Centre for Nanoscience
  • Synchrotron Radiation Research
  • MAX IV Laboratory
  • eSSENCE: The e-Science Collaboration

Publishing year

2026

Language

English

Publication/Series

Advanced Functional Materials

Volume

36

Issue

37

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Topic

  • Materials Chemistry
  • Condensed Matter Physics (including Material Physics, Nano Physics)

Keywords

  • defect engineering
  • dynamic tuning
  • epitaxial heterostructures
  • ferroionic interfaces
  • hafnia ferroelectrics
  • oxygen vacancies
  • polymorphism control

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1616-301X