PZT thin films with decreasing thickness crystallized at 400°C

For the application of PZT thin films in ferroelectric non-volatile memories, low-voltage switching is a crucial requirement. One way of lowering the operating voltage is to reduce the thickness of the PZT thin film. Using chemical solution deposition (CSD) we prepared continuous (PbZr0.30 Ti0.70O3) PZT 30/70 films with thicknesses decreasing from about 200 nm to as low as 25 nm. However, in order to obtain a ferroelectric response, the films should be at least 60-80-nm thin. The films were crystallized at 400degreesC for 5-120 minutes. The best P-E response was obtained for the films annealed for 10 and 30 minutes. The values of P-r and E-c were 20 muC/cm(2) and 210 kV/cm (10 mins), and 24 muC/cm(2) and 280 kV/cm (30 mins).