Spatial variations in local switching parameters of ferroelectric random access memory capacitors

Authors

D. Wu, North Carolina State University
I. Kunishima, Toshiba Corporation
S. Roberts, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Alexei Gruverman, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2009

Comments

Published in APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS 95. Copyright © 2009 American Institute of Physics. Used by permission.

Abstract

Spatially resolved studies of the switching behavior of micrometer scale Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ capacitors have been performed by piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). PFM spectroscopy and bias-dependent imaging of domain patterns have been used to investigate variability in local switching parameters and address the capacitor scaling effect on switching. It was found that average coercive voltage and imprint bias are independent of capacitor size and are similar to the corresponding parameters obtained by polarization hysteresis measurements. This can be attributed to the slow switching kinetics during quasistatic PFM measurements. The obtained results demonstrate a possibility of testing the submicron capacitors in real devices.