Polarization Switching on the Open Surfaces of the Wurtzite Ferroelectric Nitrides: Ferroelectric Subsystems and Electrochemical Reactivity

Liu, Yongtao; Ievlev, Anton V.; Eliseev, Eugene A.; Dinani, Ali Mohammadi; Sepehrinezhad, Alireza; Hassan, Ubaidullah S.; Behrendt, Drew; Sun, Nana; Okamoto, Kazuki; Funakubo, Hiroshi; Rappe, Andrew M.; van Duin, Adri C. T.; Morozovska, Anna N.; Kalinin, Sergei

doi:10.1002/adma.202511001

Polarization Switching on the Open Surfaces of the Wurtzite Ferroelectric Nitrides: Ferroelectric Subsystems and Electrochemical Reactivity

Journal Article · Thu Nov 06 00:00:00 EST 2025 · Advanced Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202511001· OSTI ID:3001763

^[1]; ^[1]; Eliseev, Eugene A. ^[2]; Dinani, Ali Mohammadi ^[3]; Sepehrinezhad, Alireza ^[3]; Hassan, Ubaidullah S. ^[4]; Behrendt, Drew ^[4]; Sun, Nana ^[5]; Okamoto, Kazuki ^[5]; Funakubo, Hiroshi ^[5]; Rappe, Andrew M. ^[4]; van Duin, Adri C. T. ^[3]; Morozovska, Anna N. ^[2]; Kalinin, Sergei ^[6]

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU), Kiev (Ukraine)
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
Institute of Science Tokyo, Yokohama (Japan)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

Binary ferroelectric nitrides are promising materials for information technologies and power electronics. However, polarization switching in these materials is highly unusual. From the structural perspective, polarization reversal is associated with the change of the effective polarity at the surfaces and interfaces from N‐to‐M terminated, suggesting strong coupling between ferroelectric and chemical phenomena. Phenomenologically, macroscopic studies demonstrate the presence of complex time dependent phenomena including wake‐up. Here, in this study, the polarization switching using the multidimensional high‐resolution piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and spectroscopy is explored, detecting both the evolution of induced ferroelectric domain, electromechanical response, and surface deformation during first‐order reversal curve measurements. The presence of two weakly coupled ferroelectric subsystems are demonstrated and the bias‐induced electrochemical reactivity. The observed behaviors are very similar to the recent studies of other wurtzite system but additionally include electrochemical reactivity, suggesting the universality of these behaviors for the wurtzite binary ferroelectrics. These studies suggest potential of high‐resolution multimodal PFM spectroscopies to resolve complex coupled polarization dynamics in materials. Furthermore, these PFM based studies are fully consistent with the recent electron microscopy observations of the shark‐teeth like ferroelectric domains in nitrides. Hence, it is believed that these studies establish the universal phenomenological picture of polarization switching in binary wurtzite.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; SC0021118

OSTI ID:: 3001763

Journal Information:: Advanced Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Materials; ISSN 1521-4095; ISSN 0935-9648

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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