Continuous advancement in nonvolatile and morphotropic beyond-Moore electronic devices requires integration of ferroelectric and semiconductor materials. The emergence of hafnium oxide (HfO ₂ )–based ferroelectrics that are compatible with atomic-layer deposition has opened interesting and promising avenues of research. However, the origins of ferroelectricity and pathways to controlling it in HfO ₂ are still mysterious. We demonstrate that local helium (He) implantation can activate ferroelectricity in these materials. The possible competing mechanisms, including He ion–induced molar volume changes, vacancy redistribution, vacancy generation, and activation of vacancy mobility, are analyzed. These findings both reveal the origins of ferroelectricity in this system and open pathways for nanoengineered binary ferroelectrics.

Contact and non-contact based atomic force microscopy (AFM) approaches have been extensively utilized to explore various nanoscale surface properties. In most AFM-based measurements, a concurrent electrostatic effect between the AFM tip/cantilever and sample surface can occur. This electrostatic effect often hinders accurate measurements. Thus, it is very important to quantify as well as remove the impact of the electrostatic effect on AFM-based measurements. In this study, we examine the impact of the electrostatic effect on the electromechanical (EM) response in piezoresponse force microscopy as a model AFM mode. We quantitatively studied the effects of increasing the external electric field and reducing the spring constant of a cantilever. Further, we explored ways to minimize the electrostatic effect. The results provide broad guidelines for quantitatively analyzing the EM response as well as, eventually, for obtaining the electrostatic-free EM response. The conclusions can be applied to other AFM-based measurements that are subject to a strong electrostatic effect between the AFM tip/cantilever and sample surface, regardless of contact and non-contact modes.