Ferroelectric and dielectric properties of Li-doped ZnO thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Zinc oxide is a very important piezoelectric material with lower preparation temperature, simpler structure and composition. By doping with some elements having smaller ionic radii, such as lithium, to substitute the zinc ions, it is expected that the center of the positive charge in a unit cell will not overlap with that of the negative charge in the same unit cell, leading to the appearance of the spontaneous polarization. Thin films of Li-doped ZnO with different compositions (Zn1-xLixOy, x=0.075, 0.1, 0.125 and 0.15) have been prepared on heavily doped Si substrates by a pulsed laser deposition technique. In the films with x=0.1 and x=0.125, ferroelectric P-E hysteresis loops were successfully observed. The remanent polarization and the coercive field of Zn0.9Li0.1Oy and Zn0.875Li0.125Oy were (0.193 muC/cm(2), 4.8 kV/cm) and (0.255 muC/cm(2), 4.89 kV/cm), respectively. An anomalous point in the dielectric spectrum of the Li-doped ZnO ceramics is observed, showing that the ferroelectric phase transition occurs around 67 degreesC under 7.5 at. % Li-doped ZnO and 74 degreesC under 10 at. %. If the remanent polarization of this material can be further increased, it may be used as a ferroelectric material.