Giant Electromechanical Effect in Piezoelectric Nanomembranes Based on Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂

Since ultrathin ferroelectric HfO₂ films can be conformally grown by atomic layer deposition even on complex three-dimensional structures, new horizons in the development of next-generation piezoelectric devices are opened. However, hafnium oxide has a significant drawback for piezoelectric applications: its piezoelectric coefficients are much smaller than those of classical materials currently used in piezoelectric devices. Therefore, new approaches to the development of high-performance piezoelectric devices based on exploiting the unique properties of HfO₂ are of paramount importance. In this work, a giant electromechanical effect in miniature piezoelectric membrane devices based on a 10 nm-thick ferroelectric Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ (HZO) film is experimentally demonstrated. Compared to the pure piezoelectric effect in the HZO film, the gain of the electromechanical response in membrane devices reaches 25 times. Numerical simulations confirm that this effect stems from the asymmetric shape of the membranes and can be further improved by designing the device geometry. Furthermore, according to first-principles calculations, an additional opportunity to improve the piezoelectric coefficient, and hence, the device efficiency is provided by the engineering of the mechanical stress in the HZO film. The proposed approach enables the development of new promising piezoelectric devices including miniature reflectors, nanoactuators, and nanoswitches.