Compositional dependence of the properties of ferroelectric Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3 thin film capacitors deposited on single-layered PtRhOy electrode barriers

Single-layered PtRhOy thin films were investigated as electrode barriers for ferroelectric Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3 (PZT) (x = 0.2-0.8) thin film capacitors. PtRhOy thin films were deposited directly on n+ Si wafers by reactive sputtering. PtRhOy/PZT/PtRhOy/n+ Si capacitors showed well-defined P-E hysteresis loops. The remanent polarisations, as well as the polarisation loss after the switching cycles, were varied with the ratio of Zr/Ti. Pb(Zr0.4Ti0.6)O3 thin film capacitor showed superior ferroelectric properties, such as P-E hysteresis characteristics and polarisation fatigue. The typical remanent polarisation and coercive field of this capacitor were 22 microC/cm2 and 87 kV/cm, respectively, and the polarisation loss was only less than 5% after 10 exp(11) switching cycles. From the measurement of the depth profile and the microstructure of the capacitor, it could be shown that single-layered PtRhOy films behaved as high quality electrode barriers for PZT thin film capacitors. 9 refs.