Growth and characterization of pulsed-laser-deposited polycrystalline Bi3.33SM0.67Ti3O12 ferroelectric thin films

Ferroelectric Bi3.33SM0.67Ti3O12 (BSmT) thin films have been fabricated on Pt/TiOx/SiO2/Si substrates by pulsed laser deposition and their structural and ferroelectric properties have been characterized. The structure and morphology of the films were characterized using Xray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. About 520-nm-thick BSmT films grown at 700 degrees C exhibit excellent ferroelectric properties with a remanent polarization (2P(x)) of 41.8 mu C/cm(2) and coercive field (E-c) of 91.0 kV/cm, at an applied electric field of 385 kV/cm. The leakage current density was 2.0 x 10(-6) A/cm(2) at a dc electric field of 200 kV/cm. The films also demonstrate fatigue-free behavior up to 10(9) read/write switching cycles with 1 MHz bipolar pulses at an electric field of 192 kV/cm. As a result, Sm-substituted bismuth titanate films with good ferroelectric properties and excellent fatigue resistance are useful candidates for ferroelectric memory applications. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.