Compositional dependence of the properties of ferroelectric Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3 thin film capacitors deposited on single-layered PtRhOY electrode barriers

Single-layered PtRhOy thin films were investigated as electrode barriers for ferroelectric Pb(ZrxTil-x)O-3 (PZT) (x = 0.2-0.8) thin film capacitors. PtRhOY thin films were deposited directly on n+Si wafers by means of the reactive sputtering method. PtRhOY/PZT/PtRhOY/n+Si capacitors showed well-defined P-Ehysteresis loops. The remanent polarizations, as well as the polarization loss after the switching repetitions, were varied with the ratio of Zr/Ti. Especially, Pb(Zr0.4Ti0.6)O-3 thin film capacitor showed the superior ferroelectric properties, such as the P-E hysteresis characteristics and the polarization fatigue. The typical remanent polarization and the coercive field of this capacitor were 22 muC/cm(2) and 87 kV/cm, respectively, and the polarization loss was only less than 5% after 10(11) switching repetitions. From the measurement of the depth profile and the microstructure of this capacitor, it could be convinced that single-layered PtRhOY films behaved as high quality electrode barriers for PZT thin film capacitors. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.