Effects of He-ion bombardment on the ferroelectric and dielectric properties of BaHf0.17Ti0.83O3 films

Abstract

Focused helium ion bombardment provides an effective means to modify the properties of ferroelectric materials. This work systematically investigates the effect of helium ion bombardment on the structural, ferroelectric, and dielectric properties of relaxor BaHf0.17Ti0.83O3 thin films at different bombardment doses in the range of 1 × 1012 to 7 × 1015 ions/cm2. The films show more defects and slightly expanded out-of-plane lattice parameters with an increase in dose. Despite helium ion bombardment introducing more defects and structural disorder in the system, the bombardment-induced dipole polarization leads to enhanced ferroelectricity. Our findings highlight energetic helium ion bombardment as an effective way to enhance the ferroelectricity of relaxor materials.