Modification of PZT nucleation and growth using oxide layer in multi-layered electrodes

The ferroelectric properties of PZT on RuO2 electrodes were compared to those on RuO2/Pt electrodes. The better hysteretic properties were obtained from Pt/RuO2/PZT/RuO2/Pt ferroelectric capacitors. The enhancement of ferroelectric properties is likely attributed to the modification in the microstructure of PZT film. The interfacial modification would be affected by the factors such as surface roughness, stress, and porosity of RuO2 film. As the result of the interfacial modification, better quality PZT films are produced, thereby resulting in better ferroelectric properties. We made an effort to understand the relationship between the grain size and the coercive voltage in terms of the domain formation and the domain pinning in connection with defects like grain boundaries.