Switching characteristics of multi-ion-beam reactive sputter deposited Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ thin films

Abstract

The switching of the multi-ion-beam reactive sputter deposited Pb(Zr_0.5,Ti_0.5)O₃ thin films has been characterized by using several parameters such as switching time (t_s), switched charge density (Q_s), nonswitched charge density (Q_ns), and activation field (α). Comparison was made between films grown with and without low-energy oxygen ion bombardment. It was found that while there is not much difference in t_s between the two kinds of films, the bombarded films show higher Q_s/Q_ns, lower t_s/Q_s, and lower α. These results are consistent with previous results on the remanent polarization (P_r) and coercive field (E_c) and indicate that the bombardment has induced changes towards facilitating the domain reversal in the films.