In situsynchrotron x-ray diffraction study of electrical field induced fatigue in Pt/PbZr_0.45Ti_0.55O₃/Pt ferroelectric capacitors

Abstract

Highly brilliant synchrotron x-ray radiation was used to measure in situ the microstructural response of a ferroelectric capacitor subjected to bipolar rectangular pulses. High-resolution x-ray diffraction experiments were performed on a (111)-oriented PbZr0.45Ti0.55O3 thin film with a composition in the morphotropic region and sandwiched between two platinum electrodes. From original real time measurements, the microstructural changes with electrical cycling have been evidenced and correlated with the observed polarization fatigue measured during the x-ray diffraction experiment. From concomitant variations of the diffracted intensity and the switching current maximum, several mechanisms have been discussed as a possible origin of the polarization fatigue: field induced phase transformation, oxygen vacancy self-ordering and widening of the internal bulk screening field distribution function during cyclic switching.

Field-induced phase transition in Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3-based lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

“…Therefore characterizations under the influence of applied electric fields are mandatory. Such in situ studies have been performed with X-ray diffraction for capacitors (Menou, Muller, Baturin, Kuznetsov et al, 2005;, single crystals (Hansen et al, 2004), PZT-based thin films (Fong & Thompson, 2006) and bulk ceramics (Schoenau et al, 2007;Hall et al, 2004).…”

Structural Insights of Electrical Aging in PZT Thin Films as Revealed by In Situ Biasing X-ray Diffraction

“…During the lifetime of piezoelectric materials, their performance could be affected by different factors such as the generation of oxygen vacancies, domain walls pinning, or defects of generation [7,8]. As a result, a number of studies have been conducted to investigate and improve the aging behavior of piezo/ferroelectric materials [9][10][11][12][13][14].…”

In situ X-ray diffraction studies on the piezoelectric response of PZT thin films

“…In addition, strain and piezoelectric properties of ferroelectric thin films can be measured quantitatively using time-resolved in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) with the appropriate spatial resolution and the sample under an applied electric field [17][18][19][20]. In situ high-resolution XRD has been performed to study the switching behavior of 90°domains in epitaxial tetragonal PZT thin films under applied bias voltage [21][22][23][24], as well as to investigate the electromechanical properties and the origin of the polarization fatigue in highly (111) and (001) oriented tetragonal PZT thin films [25,26].…”