Switching of ferroelectric thin films

Abstract

Lithium Niobate (LiNbO₃) is a unique ferroelectric material with a large coercive field and remanent polarization. These properties are essential for reliable ferroelectric memory applications. The switching behavior of Metal-LiNbO₃-Silicon capacitor devices is therefore investigated. Alternating polarity double pulses are applied to the devices and the resulting transient currents are captured on an oscilloscope. Many of these capacitors have shown unstable polarization reversal, in which the ferroelectric switches polarization direction with the pulse but relaxes back almost immediately after. The characteristics of this particular behavior are investigated and presented.