# Rapid heat assisted polarization reversal in ferroelectric thin films

## TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that laser-assisted transient heating can enable rapid polarization reversal in ferroelectric thin films, surpassing electrical switching alone, with potential implications for faster ferroelectric device operation.

## Contribution

It introduces a heat-assisted switching method for ferroelectric thin films using synchronized laser pulses, showing enhanced polarization reversal beyond electrical control alone.

## Key findings

- Transient heating induces polarization reversal exceeding electrical switching limits.
- Timing of laser pulses relative to electrical pulses critically affects switching behavior.
- Heat modeling explains the polarization change dynamics.

## Abstract

We demonstrate that switching of ferroelectric thin-films sandwiched between metallic electrodes can be controlled by laser-assisted heating, reminiscent of heat-assisted magnetic recording. We employ electrical switching cycles that quantify the electrically switchable remanent polarization $P_\mathrm{r}$ and show that 300\,ns voltage pulses alone change the polarization by less than $\Delta P<P_\mathrm{r}$. Transient heating of the metallic top electrode by synchronized ns laser-pulses induces a reversal $\Delta P^\mathrm{L}>P_\mathrm{r}$ of the average polarization. The transient average temperature modeled by the heat equation can rationalize the polarization change observed for different relative timing $\Delta t$ of the laser pulse, if it arrives before the electrical pulse.