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Stress-induced ferroelectricity in hafnia core-shell nanoparticles

Anna N. Morozovska ^1,*, Eugene A. Eliseev ², Richard (Yu) Liu ³, Sergei V. Kalinin ^3,†, and Dean R. Evans ^4,‡

¹Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 46, Nauky Avenue, 03028, Kyiv, Ukraine
²Frantsevich Institute for Problems in Materials Science of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 3, Street Omeliana Pritsaka, 03142, Kyiv, Ukraine
³Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996, USA
⁴Zone 5 Technologies, Special Projects, San Luis Obispo, California 93401, USA

^*Contact author: anna.n.morozovska@gmail.com
^†Contact author: sergei2@utk.edu
^‡Contact author: deanevans@zone5tech.com

Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 044065 – Published 22 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yktz-f1hv

Abstract

In contrast to hafnia ( ${HfO}_{2}$ ) thin films, where the appearance of switchable ferroelectric polarization can be induced by strain or defect engineering, reliable methods for controlling ferroelectricity in ${HfO}_{2}$ nanoparticles are absent. Direct experimental observations of ferroelectric hysteresis and ferroelectric domains in these nanoparticles have also not been reported. To the best of our knowledge, stress-induced ferroelectric states in the ${HfO}_{2}$ nanoparticles have not been explored. In this work, we study the influence of chemical stress on phase diagrams, dielectric properties, and polar properties of spherical ${HfO}_{2}$ core-shell nanoparticles using a Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire free energy functional that includes trilinear and biquadratic couplings involving polar, antipolar, and nonpolar order parameters. The ferroelectric phase exhibits reentrant behavior as a function of nanoparticle size, such that the spontaneous polarization exists only within a limited range of core radii $R_{c}$ , namely $R_{cr}^{\min} < R_{c} < R_{cr}^{\max}$ . The minimal critical radius $R_{cr}^{\min}$ is primarily determined by the size dependence of the depolarization field and correlation effects, whereas the maximal critical radius $R_{cr}^{\max}$ is governed mainly by the size dependence of chemical stresses induced by the elastic defects in the shell. Thus, this work identifies a stress-driven mechanism for reentrant ferroelectricity stabilization in nanoscale hafnia systems, arising from the competition between depolarization field-induced suppression of ferroelectricity and its stabilization by shell-induced chemical stress. We revealed that relatively large compressive chemical strains are necessary to induce the ferroelectric phase in the ${HfO}_{2}$ nanoparticles. Successful chemical strain engineering opens the way for significant enhancement of nanoscale ${HfO}_{2}$ polar properties for applications in advanced memory cells and logic devices.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 044065– Published 22 October, 2026

Vol. 26, Iss. 4 — October 2026

Received 25 February 2026
Revised 14 July 2026
Accepted 29 September 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yktz-f1hv

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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Stress-induced ferroelectricity in hafnia core-shell nanoparticles

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