Low voltage extrinsic switching of ferroelectric δ-PVDF ultra-thin films

Non-volatile memories operating at low voltage are indispensable for flexible micro-electronic applications. To that end, ferroelectric delta-PVDF films were investigated as a function of layer thickness down to 10 nm ultra-thin films. Capacitors were fabricated using PEDOT:PSS as non-reactive electrode. Full polarization reversal was obtained at an unprecedented voltage below 5V. The remanent polarization of 7 mu C/cm(2) and coercive field of 120 MV/m are independent of layer thickness, demonstrating that ferroelectric switching in delta-PVDF is extrinsic, dominated by inhomogeneous nucleation and growth. The ease of processing of delta-PVDF allowed to determine a lower limit of the critical ferroelectric thickness. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.