PROCESSING OF A UNIAXIAL FERROELECTRIC PB5GE3O11 THIN-FILM AT 450-DEGREES-C WITH C-AXIS ORIENTATION

Uniaxial Pb5Ge3O11 thin films were successfully fabricated by the sol-gel processing route. Crack-free and c-axis oriented thin films (1600 angstrom) were observed on (111) Pt-coated Si substrates when heat treated at 450-degrees-C for 15 min. The thin films exhibited well saturated P-E hysteresis loops with P(r) = 3.3-mu-C/cm2, P(s) = 3.7-mu-C/cm2, and E(c) = 135 kV/cm. Specifically, a 1600 angstrom film switched at 2.2 V. The possible applications such as nonvolatile ferroelectric memories and CCD IR image sensors without fatigue or retention problems, are discussed.