EFFECTS OF DISTURBING PULSES ON THE SWITCHABLE POLARIZATION OF PB(ZRTI)O3 THIN-FILM CAPACITORS

The effect of disturbing pulses on the switchable polarization in ferr oelectric films of PbZrxTi1-xO3 with x = 0.36 and 0.71 has been invest igated. The two compositions were selected because of their different hysteresis shapes. Pulse measurements were carried out with a varying number of disturbing pulses at different amplitudes, interrupted by si ngle shot read/write pulses. It was found that the composition with th e squarer loop (x=0.36) showed less sensitivity to disturbing pulses, i.e., the switchable polarization did not significantly degrade with 1 09 disturbing pulses of amplitude 1.2 V. In addition, these results de monstrate that degradation of the stored polarization due to parasitic disturbing voltages in high density ferroelectric random access memor ies can be kept at an acceptable level.