We have investigated the structural and electrical properties of sol-gel derived Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 (PZT) thin films deposited on Ir electrode barrier (Ir/poly-Si/SiO2/Si). Owing to the interface-controlled growth, highly c-axis oriented perovskite PZT thin films were obtained for the postdeposition annealing temperature of 580 °C. Additionally, we found that the ferroelectric properties of IrO2/PZT/Ir/poly-Si capacitors were remarkably changed by the partial pressure of oxygen during the deposition of IrO2 top electrodes, which could be due to the enhanced reaction of IrO2 with PZT by the oxygen ion bombardments. Remanent polarization and coercive field of IrO2/PZT/Ir/poly-Si capacitor with the top electrodes deposited at PO2=1 mTorr was 20 μC/cm2 and 30 kV/cm, respectively, and showed negligible polarization fatigue up to 1011 switching repetitions. The leakage current density at a field of 80 kV was 5×10−8 A/cm2.

The effect of various electrode materials on the ferroelectric properties of SrBi2Ta2O9 (SBT) thin films has been investigated for non-volatile memory applications. Two sets of electrode structures, viz., Pt-Ir based and Pt-Rh based, were sputter deposited in-situ on Si substrates. SBT thin films were deposited on these electrodes using a metal-organic solution deposition technique followed by a post-deposition anneal at 750 °C in oxygen. Structural characterization revealed a polycrystalline nature with predominant perovskite phase in SBT thin films. Ferroelectric properties were studied in capacitor mode by depositing top electrodes, where the top electrode material is identical to that of the bottom electrode. Extensive analysis of the ferroelectric properties signify the important role played by the electrode material in establishing the device applicability is reported in this work.