Individual switching of film-based nanoscale epitaxial ferroelectric capacitors

We have investigated the individual switching of nanoscale capacitors by piezoresponse force microscopy. Nanoscale epitaxial ferroelectric capacitors with terabyte per inch square equivalent density were fabricated by the deposition of top electrodes onto a pulsed laser deposited lead zirconate titanate thin film by electron beam evaporation through ultrathin anodic aluminum oxide membrane stencil masks. Using bias pulses, the nanoscale capacitors were uniformly switched and proved to be individually addressable. These film-based nanoscale capacitors might be a feasible alternative for high-density mass storage memory applications with near terabyte per inch square density due to the absence of any cross-talk effects. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3474960]