Properties of epitaxial, (001)- and (110)-oriented (PbMg_1/3Nb_2/3O₃)_2/3-(PbTiO₃)_1/3 films on silicon described by polarization rotation

Abstract

Epitaxial (PbMg_1/3Nb_2/3O₃)_2/3-(PbTiO₃)_1/3 (PMN-PT) films with different out-of-plane orientations were prepared using a CeO₂/yttria stabilized ZrO₂ bilayer buffer and symmetric SrRuO₃ electrodes on silicon substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The orientation of the SrRuO₃ bottom electrode, either (110) or (001), was controlled by the deposition conditions and the subsequent PMN-PT layer followed the orientation of the bottom electrode. The ferroelectric, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the (SrRuO₃/PMN-PT/SrRuO₃) ferroelectric capacitors exhibit orientation dependence. The properties of the films are explained in terms of a model based on polarization rotation. At low applied fields domain switching dominates the polarization change. The model indicates that polarization rotation is easier in the (110) film, which is ascribed to a smaller effect of the clamping on the shearing of the pseudo-cubic unit cell compared to the (001) case.

Keywords:

• PMN-PT
• pulsed laser deposition
• orientation control
• ferroelectricity
• piezoelectricity
• thin film
• epitaxy

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Engineering Doctorate School of Roma TRE University and by NanoNextNL, a micro and nanotechnology consortium of the Government of the Netherlands and 130 partners.