Microstructural and Ferroelectric Properties of a Chemical Solution Deposited Epitaxial PbZr0.5 Ti0.5O3 Thin Film on a SrRuO3/SrTiO3 Substrate

Abstract

Epitaxial PbZr0.5Ti0.5O3 (PZT) thin films were grown on top of a SrRuO3 epitaxial electrode layer on a (100) SrTiO3 substrate by the chemical solution deposition method at 600 °C. The microstructure of the PZT thin film was investigated by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, and the ferroelectric properties were measured using the Ag/PZT/SRO capacitor structure. The PZT thin film has the epitaxial orientational relationship of (001) [010]PZT ║ (001) [010]SRO ║ (001) [010]STO with the substrate. The remnant (Pr ) and saturation polarization (Ps) density were measured to be Pr ~ 51.4 µC/cm2 and Ps ~ 62.1 µC/cm2 at 5 V, respectively. Ferroelectric fatigue measurements show that the net-switching polarization begins to drop (to 98% of its initial value) after 7 × 108 cycles.