X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction, and Raman scattering measurements are presented far dehydrated amorphous ZrO,.Although the material lacks sufficient crystallinity to diffract X rays, electron diffraction patterns indicate a microcrystallinity with a grain size of 15 to 30 A. Raman spectra characteristic of the metastable tetragonal polymorph were obtained from these materials. Heating the amorphous materials induces recrystallization into first a metastable tetragonal phase and then the stable monoclinic phase.

No abstract

No abstract

Cooling (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 films from their pulsed laser deposition temperature in a reducing ambient yields a voltage offset in the polarization–voltage characteristics. Reversing the as-processed polarization at 120 °C nearly removes the offset. By reversing the polarization at room temperature and either heating the film at zero voltage or illuminating the film with UV light, the offset can be partially changed. All changes are recoverable using the same processes with opposite polarity polarization. This behavior is explained by a process-induced accumulation of oxygen vacancies at one interface, oxygen vacancy defect-dipole complexes throughout the film, and trapping of free electrons at the interface of positive polarization. Voltage offset and shift effects are not observed in films cooled in 1 atm of oxygen

Ferroelectric Pb0.9La0.1Zr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin film capacitors with a symmetrical La-Sr-Co-O top and bottom electrodes have been grown on [001] Si with yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) buffer layer. A layered perovskite ‘‘template’’ layer (200–300 Å thick), grown between the YSZ buffer layer and the bottom La-Sr-Co-O electrode, is critical for obtaining the required orientation of the subsequent layers. When compared to the capacitors grown with the Y-Ba-Cu-O top and bottom electrodes, these structures possess two advantages: (i) the growth temperatures are lower by 60–150 °C; (ii) the capacitors show a larger remnant polarization ΔP (ΔP=switched polarization–nonswitched polarization), 25–30 μC/cm2, for an applied voltage of only 2 V (applied field of 70 kV/cm). The fatigue, retention, and aging characteristics of these new structures are excellent.