Revealing wake-up mechanism in antiferroelectric Hf_xZr_1−xO₂ capacitors through spatially selective wake-up

Antiferroelectric (AFE) devices are promising for nonvolatile memory applications due to their high endurance and low operating voltage, while their double hysteresis loops and high breakdown fields enable static energy-storage applications. However, their reliability evolution under electric-field cycling and the underlying physical mechanism remain insufficiently understood. In this work, we systematically investigate the wake-up behavior of AFE Hf_xZr_1-xO₂ (HZO) capacitors and quantitatively evaluate its dependence on cycling frequency and voltage amplitude. By designing a unipolar electrical excitation, spatially selective unipolar wake-up is realized within a single device, creating coexisting woken and non-woken-up regions. Combined energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) analyses reveal that the wake-up effect is primarily governed by the field-driven directional migration and redistribution of charged oxygen vacancies near the electrode/HZO interfaces. Furthermore, we uncover the application-dependent impact of wake-up behavior. Tailored electrical excitation with enhanced wake-up effectively enlarges the memory window for nonvolatile memory operation, whereas suppressing excessive wake-up preserves the energy storage performance of AFE capacitors. These findings reveal an oxygen-vacancy-redistribution-dominated wake-up mechanism in AFE HZO capacitors and provide an application-oriented electrical regulation strategy for optimizing their performance in both memory and energy-storage technologies.