Effect of La0.67Sr0.33 MnO3 Insertion Layer on the Ferroelectric and Resistive Switching Behaviors of PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3/Nb:SrTiO3 Heterostructures

Abstract

Recently, ferroelectric resistive switching (RS) effect in the ferroelectric/semiconductor heterostructures has been widely studied and the RS performance has been greatly improved. However, the relationships between ferroelectric and RS behaviors as well as interface structure of ferroelectric/semiconductor heterostructures need to be further studied. Herein, a [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]MnO3 (LSMO) layer with the thickness of 7 nm is inserted into [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]O3/Nb:SrTiO3 (PZT/NSTO) heterostructures, and its effects on the ferroelectric and RS behaviors are investigated. The PZT/NSTO heterostructures show significantly asymmetric ferroelectric loops, and the RS ratio in which can reach to three orders of magnitude. However, by inserting the LSMO layer, the ferroelectric loops became relatively symmetric, but the RS effect almost disappeared. It can be considered that the LSMO layer affects the interfacial energy band structure of the PZT/NSTO heterostructures, which makes ferroelectric polarization lose its effect on the modulation of the depletion layer width. Therefore, the existence of the adjustable depletion layer is very important for the RS effect of ferroelectric/semiconductor heterostructures.