Domain switching kinetics of lead zirconate titinate thin films

Domain switching behaviors of sol-gel derived lead zirconate titinate (PZT) films have been characterized for ferroelectric memory applications by measuring P-E hysteresis curves as a function of frequency, temperature and electrode size. The coercive field (E,) of PZT films strongly depended on the measuring frequency, nevertheless their remanent polarization (P,) was almost independent of it. The frequency dependence of E-c could be explained based on the nucleation-controlled model of domain switching. A linear relation was obtained between logarithmic frequency and 1/E-c(2). The slope of the line was subject to temperature and the interception of that, at 1/E-c(2)=0, was subject to electrode size. A guideline was proposed to enable ferroelectric memories to operate at higher speeds and lower voltages.