Ferroelectric memory destined for automotive and aerospace applications must meet stringent performance requirements. Here, an innovative two-step annealing approach significantly improved the crystallinity of both ferroelectric orthogonal and anti-ferroelectric tetragonal phases, reduced dislocation density, and lowered leakage current of (1 + 5) nm thick Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ (HZO) thin films. Consequently, the HZO film achieved a high remnant polarization (P_r) of 16.2 μC/cm² and a coercive voltage (V_c) of 0.62 V at a low read/write voltage of 1 V. After 10¹² read/write cycles at 25 ℃, the memory cell showed only an 18% reduction in 2P_r, with an extrapolated maximum endurance of 1.32 × 10¹⁷ cycles using electric-field accelerated testing. Notably, the memory cells demonstrated over 10¹⁰ read/write cycles even at 200 ℃. This work paves the way for the development of ferroelectric memory chips with low power consumption, high durability, ultra-fast read/write speeds, and high-temperature operation.

HfO₂-based ferroelectrics have emerged as promising candidates for next-generation memory applications due to their superior scalability and CMOS compatibility. However, the inherent trade-off between polarization characteristics and switching reliability remains a critical challenge. This study presents a systematic investigation of doping and intercalation effects on the continuous modulation of grain size and oxygen vacancies in AlO_x-inserted Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ (HZO) films. Our findings reveal that only 0.1 nm AlO_x insertion layer in HZO can significantly reduce the leakage current (by 2 orders of magnitude) and improve the P_r/E_c value (by 44.6%). Moreover, the field cycling characteristics are enhanced through the suppression of the paraelectric m-phase as well as the balancing of fatigue and wake-up induced phase transitions between antiferroelectric t-phase and ferroelectric o-phase. This work offers valuable insights into the fabrication of high-performance and highly reliable HfO₂-based ferroelectric thin films.