Nanoscale investigation of fatigue effects in Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ films

Authors

Alexei Gruverman, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
O. Auciello, MCNC, Electronics Technologies Division, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
H. Tokumoto, JRCAT, NAIR, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan

Date of this Version

11-18-1996

Comments

Published in Appl. Phys. Lett. 69 (21), 18 November 1996 0003-6951/96/69(21)/3191/3/$10.00. Copyright © 1996 American Institute of Physics. Used by permission.

Abstract

Scanning force microscopy has been used to perform a comparative nanoscale study of domain structures and switching behavior of Pb(Zr_xTi_1-x)O₃ (PZT) thin films integrated into heterostructures with different electrodes. The study revealed a significant difference between polarization state of as-deposited PZT films on RuO₂ and Pt electrodes. The PZT/RuO₂ films exhibit polydomain crystallites and show almost symmetric switching behavior, while the PZT/Pt films are mainly in a single polarity state and exhibit highly asymmetric piezoelectric hysteresis loops. Formation of unswitchable polarization within the grains of submicron size as a result of fatigue process was directly observed.