Characterization of Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O-3 thin film on silicon substrate with heteroepitaxial yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) buffer layer

A c-axis highly oriented Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O-3 (PZT) film on Si(100) with a heteroepitaxial yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) buffer layer was obtained by reactive magnetron sputtering. A 10-nm-thick YSZ buffer layer prevented the PZT film from reacting with the Si substrate at the substrate temperature of 650 degrees C, leading to the production of a planar oriented PZT film. Polarization-voltage hysteresis measurements showed that the PZT/YSZ/Si structure had ferroelectric properties. Current-voltage and capacitance-voltage measurements indicated that this structure had crystalline defects which generated large absorption current with short relaxation time constants.