Substitution effects on the ferroelectric properties of BiFeO3 thin films prepared by chemical solution deposition

Ferroelectric properties of Cr-substituted BiFeO3 (BFCr) and Pb-cosubstituted BFCr films prepared by a chemical solution deposition method and annealed at 550 degrees C in nitrogen have been studied. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that the thin films were composed of a rhombohedrally distorted perovskite structure without secondary phases. The 5 mol % Pb-cosubstituted BFCr films appeared to have superior ferroelectric properties to those of other BFCr films prepared by the same conditions. The remanent polarization (P-r) and the coercive field (E-c) of the 5 mol % Pb-cosubstituted BFCr film were 62 mu C/cm(2) and 235 kV/cm, respectively, with a maximum applied field of 712 kV/cm. In addition, the film exhibited a fatigue-free behavior up to 1.45x10(10) read/write cycles. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.