Write cycling endurance exceeding 10¹⁰ in sub-50 nm ferroelectric AlScN

Wurtzite ferroelectrics, particularly aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN), have emerged as a promising material platform for non-volatile memories, offering high polarization values exceeding 100 μC/cm². However, their high coercive fields (>3 MV/cm) have limited cycling endurance to ~10⁷ cycles in previous reports. Here, we demonstrate unprecedented control of polarization switching in AlScN, achieving write cycling endurance exceeding 10¹⁰ cycles-a thousand-fold improvement over previous wurtzite ferroelectric benchmarks. Through precise voltage modulation in 45 nm-thick Al_0.64Sc_0.36N capacitors, we show that while complete polarization reversal (2P_r ≈ 200 μC/cm²) sustains ~10⁸ cycles, partial switching extends endurance beyond 10¹⁰ cycles while maintaining a substantial polarization (>30 μC/cm² for 2P_r). This exceptional endurance, combined with breakdown fields approaching 10 MV/cm in optimized 10 μm diameter devices, represents the highest reported values for any wurtzite ferroelectric. Our findings establish a new paradigm for reliability in nitride ferroelectrics, demonstrating that controlled partial polarization and size scaling enables both high endurance and energy-efficient operation.