Polarization reversal kinetics of a lead zirconate titanate thin-film capacitor for nonvolatile memory

The switching kinetics of polarization reversal using lead zirconate titana te (PZT) thin-film capacitors for nonvolatile memories has been analyzed in terms of the Ishibashi model. A practical 16 kbit PZT memory was used in t his work. The polarization reversal ratio agrees well with the theoretical model of the first order dimensional domain growth. The domain growth proce eds outwardly with one-dimensional movement, and domain reversal occurs wit h existing nuclei and is completed before any other significant nucleation takes place. The characteristic domain growth time t(0) is 3 ns. This revea ls that the domain switching is substantially fast, and therefore it does n ot affect the read-out operation of the ferroelectric memories. (C) 2000 Am erican Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)01118-X].