Observations of ferroelectric polarization reversal in sol-gel processed very thin lead-zirconate-titanate films

Abstract

Very thin lead-zirconate-titanate films, 500 Å or less in thickness, have been prepared on Pt-Ti metallized silicon wafers by a sol-gel processing technique. Excellent ferroelectric, dielectric, and structural properties have been demonstrated. The maximum polarization and the remanent polarization at a switching voltage of 3 V on a film with a Zr/Ti ratio of about 50/50 are 33 and 12 μC/cm2, respectively. The capability of reaching a saturation polarization at a low voltage (∼3 V) on these films suggests that they are very attractive for use in radiation-hard low-voltage nonvolatile programmable random access memories.