Effect of reducing atmosphere on electrical properties of sol-gel-derived Pb(Zr,Ti)O-3 ferroelectric films on textured LaNiO3 electrode

Reducing-atmosphere treatment at 400 degreesC for 10 min was performed on s ol-gel-derived Pb(Zr,Ti)O-3 (PZT) thin films, which were spin-coated on a L aNiO3/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si Substrate and annealed. The reducing atmosphere does no t produce any significant change of the preferred orientation perovskite st ructure of these ferroelectric thin films. However, the relative dielectric constant and the remanent polarization of the PZT films decrease significa ntly with the reducing-atmosphere treatment. In addition, the endurance of electrical signal cycling is also decreased by the reducing atmosphere trea tment. On the other hand, the leakage currents of the reducing-atmosphere-t reated PZT films are decreased by about one order of magnitude.