Orthorhombic structure stabilazation in bulk HfO2 by yttrium doping

The recently observed ferroelectricity in thin films of pure and doped Hafnium oxide (HfO2) has initiated a sustaining effort to stabilize its ferroelectric phase which is the polar orthorhombic (o) phase with space group Pca21. This polar o-phase of the oxide does not appear in its phase transition sequence and is also not thought to be stabilized in bulk oxide. Here, we report the stabilization of three o-phases of this oxide in bulk with space groups Pbca, Pca21 and Pbcm in presence of Yttrium (Y) dopant. For inducing o-phase, 10 at% of Y-dopant has been used and temperature mediated phase transformation from monoclinic (m) to o-phase has been observed. The third o-phase with space group Pbcm could be stabilized for the first time in bulk oxide by Y-dopant. All the o-phases in presence of m-phase could be identified by Time Differential Perturbed γ-γ Angular Correlation (TDPAC) Spectroscopy. The TDPAC parameters assigned to Pbcm phase confirm the theoretical modelization for the phase performed by Wien2K calculation based on Density Functional Theory (DFT). The present work reports the possibility of stabilizing different o-phases including polar one and shows the widening of scope of this oxide for future ferroelectric applications.