MODELING OF THE HYSTERESIS OF FERROELECTRIC THIN-FILMS

A polarization reversal mechanism is proposed for ferroelectric cerami cs, which is controlled by nucleation, growth, merging and shrinkage o f ferroelectric domains. These domain phenomena are described by the n ature of Barkhausen jumps, the internal electric field, the dielectric relaxation times of the dipoles, and the ferroelectric-electrode inte rface state. A quantitative model is developed, based on the proposed polarization reversal mechanism, for simulating hysteresis properties of lead zirconate titanate thin films. The simulated hysteresis loops show excellent agreement with experimental results.