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Electrostriction-driven phase instability enables giant pseudo-piezoelectricity in Hf0.5Zr0.5O2X

Bergne, Achilles ; Vasiljevic, Milica ; Alikin, Denis ; Tinti, Victor Buratto ; Oliveira, Leonardo LU orcid ; Landberg Hill, Megan O. LU ; Chen, Huaiyu LU ; Wallentin, Jesper LU ; Jennings, Dylan and Rheinheimer, Wolfgang , et al. (2026) In Science Advances 12(26).
Abstract

The electromechanical properties of hafnium zirconium oxide fluorite (Hf0.5Zr0.5O2, HZO) remain largely unexplored despite its widespread use as a ferroelectric in CMOS-compatible devices. Here, we demonstrate that electrostriction-driven phase instability enables a giant pseudo-piezoelectric response in epitaxial HZO thin films. Above a critical field of 24 kilovolts per centimeter, field-induced transitions between nonpolar and polar phases activate an extrinsic piezoelectric response of ~1000 picometers per volt and bias-stabilized pseudo-piezoelectric strains exceeding 10,000 picometers per volt. This behavior arises from a combination of large electrostriction (M = 1 × 10-14 square meters per square volt), ferroelastic softness,... (More)

The electromechanical properties of hafnium zirconium oxide fluorite (Hf0.5Zr0.5O2, HZO) remain largely unexplored despite its widespread use as a ferroelectric in CMOS-compatible devices. Here, we demonstrate that electrostriction-driven phase instability enables a giant pseudo-piezoelectric response in epitaxial HZO thin films. Above a critical field of 24 kilovolts per centimeter, field-induced transitions between nonpolar and polar phases activate an extrinsic piezoelectric response of ~1000 picometers per volt and bias-stabilized pseudo-piezoelectric strains exceeding 10,000 picometers per volt. This behavior arises from a combination of large electrostriction (M = 1 × 10-14 square meters per square volt), ferroelastic softness, and structural reconfiguration, rather than intrinsic polarization switching. Multimodal characterization combining interferometry, diffraction methods, scanning probe microscopy, and first-principles modeling confirms the coupling between strain and metastable phase dynamics. These findings reveal a previously unrecognized mechanism for functional strain generation in fluorite oxides, positioning HZO as a versatile platform for strain-engineered actuators, adaptive metasurfaces, and reconfigurable nanoelectromechanical systems.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Science Advances
volume
12
issue
26
article number
eaea0750
publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:105043878013
  • pmid:42361158
ISSN
2375-2548
DOI
10.1126/sciadv.aea0750
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
09ddd24d-8e00-4a8b-9077-da3de2923dc3
date added to LUP
2026-07-14 18:39:56
date last changed
2026-08-11 21:50:40
@article{09ddd24d-8e00-4a8b-9077-da3de2923dc3,
  abstract     = {{<p>The electromechanical properties of hafnium zirconium oxide fluorite (Hf0.5Zr0.5O2, HZO) remain largely unexplored despite its widespread use as a ferroelectric in CMOS-compatible devices. Here, we demonstrate that electrostriction-driven phase instability enables a giant pseudo-piezoelectric response in epitaxial HZO thin films. Above a critical field of 24 kilovolts per centimeter, field-induced transitions between nonpolar and polar phases activate an extrinsic piezoelectric response of ~1000 picometers per volt and bias-stabilized pseudo-piezoelectric strains exceeding 10,000 picometers per volt. This behavior arises from a combination of large electrostriction (M = 1 × 10-14 square meters per square volt), ferroelastic softness, and structural reconfiguration, rather than intrinsic polarization switching. Multimodal characterization combining interferometry, diffraction methods, scanning probe microscopy, and first-principles modeling confirms the coupling between strain and metastable phase dynamics. These findings reveal a previously unrecognized mechanism for functional strain generation in fluorite oxides, positioning HZO as a versatile platform for strain-engineered actuators, adaptive metasurfaces, and reconfigurable nanoelectromechanical systems.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bergne, Achilles and Vasiljevic, Milica and Alikin, Denis and Tinti, Victor Buratto and Oliveira, Leonardo and Landberg Hill, Megan O. and Chen, Huaiyu and Wallentin, Jesper and Jennings, Dylan and Rheinheimer, Wolfgang and Bruus, Henrik and Grønborg, Mathias and Koukoulis, Dimitrios and Morin-Martinez, Armando Antonio and Zamudio-García, Javier and Castelli, Ivano Eligio and Ignatāns, Reinis and Kholkin, Andrei and Christensen, Dennis Valbjørn and Pryds, Nini and Esposito, Vincenzo}},
  issn         = {{2375-2548}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{26}},
  publisher    = {{American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}},
  series       = {{Science Advances}},
  title        = {{Electrostriction-driven phase instability enables giant pseudo-piezoelectricity in Hf<sub>0.5</sub>Zr<sub>0.5</sub>O<sub>2X</sub>}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aea0750}},
  doi          = {{10.1126/sciadv.aea0750}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}