Temperature-dependent fatigue behaviors of ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 and Pb0.75La0.25TiO3 thin films -: art. no. 042904

The polarization switching fatigue of ABO(3)-perovskite ferroelectric thin-film Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O-3 (PZT) prepared by metalorganic decomposition (MOD) and Pb0.75La0.25TiO3 (PLT) prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD), are investigated. The temperature as a degree of freedom is employed to modulate the switching fatigue and unveil the roles of oxygen vacancies associated with polarization switching. It is confirmed that the polarization fatigue is dominated by the long-range diffusion of oxygen vacancies, leading to a superior fatigue resistance at low temperature. More importantly, it is revealed that although PLD-prepared PLT films have a higher density of oxygen vacancies than MOD-prepared PZT films, the evaluated barrier for oxygen diffusion in PLD-prepared PLT films is similar to 1.3 eV, larger than similar to 1.0 eV, the barrier in MOD-prepared PZT films, responsible for a weaker fatigue behavior in PLD-prepared PLT films. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.