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

Abstract

Electrical aging in lead zirconate titanate (PbZrxTi1−xO3) thin films has been intensively studied from a macroscopic perspective. However, structural origins and consequences of such degradation are less documented. In this study, we have used synchrotron radiation to evaluate the behavior of ferroelectric domains by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The sample was loaded with an AC triangular bias waveform between ±10 V with a number of cycle varying from one up to 108. At each step of the aging procedure, XRD spectra had been collected in situ during the application of an electric field on a capacitor. The fine analysis of the (200) pseudo-cubic peak structure allows to separate the evolution of the volume of a/c tetragonal and rhombohedral domains along the electrical biasing. Throughout the aging, both intrinsic and extrinsic responses of tetra and rhombohedral domains are altered, the behavior depending on the observed phase. This methodology opens up new perspectives in the comprehension of the aging effect in ferroelectric thin film.

Time-resolved piezoelectric response in relaxor ferroelectric (Pb0.88La0.12)(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 thin films

“…However, the online version of record will be different from this version once it has been copyedited and typeset. The piezoelectric properties of ferroelectric thin films are studied by various methods, including piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), interferometry [18], and in situ and time-resolved X-ray diffraction (XRD) during the application of an electric field [19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]. While PFM is a local probe and prone to surface artifacts, XRD provides access to the piezoelectrically-induced strain within the complete thickness of the thin film and on a large lateral scale with a strain resolution of 10 -…”