Time-dependent and trap-related current conduction mechanism in ferroelectric Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O-3 films

The correlation between trap density and leakage current of Pb(Zr53Ti47)O-3 (PZT) capacitors is studied by examining the current-time (I-t) and the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. The increase of leakage current after de electrical field stress is correlated with the number of charges trapped inside the films. The spatial density distribution of trapped charges is calculated by analyzing the decay of discharging current after the application of de stress. The discharging current is well fitted by a 1/t relationship where t is discharging time. This behavior can be explained by using the tunneling front model. A discharging process is proposed based on this consideration. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.