BaRuO3 thin film electrode for ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate capacitors

The characteristics of a ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O-3 (PZT) capacitor on conductive BaRuO3 thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) were investigated. The BaRuO3 layer grown epitaxially on LaAlO3(100) substrates at a substrate temperature of 700 degrees C was found to have a resistivity around 145 mu Omega cm at 300 K. The subsequently deposited PZT film showed a c-axis orientation perpendicular to the substrate, and the remnant polarization, Delta P (= P* - P<^>), and coercive field, E-C, of the capacitor were 24.7 mu C/cm(2) and 52 kV/cm, respectively. Fatigue characteristics of the PZT on BaRuO3 electrodes are far better than those obtained with polycrystalline PZT with Pt structures and comparable to those on epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7-x electrodes. With the new metallic electrode, the PZT layer exhibits no serious degradation in fatigue endurance up to 10(10) cycles.