Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Voltage shifts and defect-dipoles in ferroelectric capacitors

Conference ·
OSTI ID:402365

We review the processes and mechanisms by which voltage offsets occur in the hysteresis loop of ferroelectric materials. Simply stated, voltage shifts arise from near-interfacial charge trapping in the ferroelectric. We show that the impetus behind voltage shifts in ferroelectric capacitors is the net polarization, with the net polarization being determined by the perovskite and the aligned defect-dipole components. Some common defect-dipoles in the PZT system are lead vacancy-oxygen vacancy complexes. One way to change the net polarization in the ferroelectric is to subject the PZT capacitor to a dc bias at elevated temperature; this process is spectroscopically shown to align defect-dipoles along the direction of the applied electric field. The alignment of defect-dipoles can strongly impact several material properties. One such impact is that it can lead to enhanced voltage shifts (imprint). It is proposed that the net polarization determines the spatial location of the asymmetrically trapped charge that are the cause for the voltage shifts. An enhanced polarization at one electrode interface can lead to larger voltage shifts since it lowers the electrostatic potential well for electron trapping, i.e., more electron trapping can occur. Defect-dipole alignment is also shown to increase the UV sensitivity of the ferroelectric.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, VA (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
402365
Report Number(s):
SAND--96-2093C; CONF-961202--1; ON: DE96014086
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Driving force behind voltage shifts in ferroelectric materials
Journal Article · Thu Feb 29 23:00:00 EST 1996 · Applied Physics Letters · OSTI ID:278906

Voltage offsets and imprint mechanism in SrBi{sub 2}Ta{sub 2}O{sub 9} thin films
Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1996 · Journal of Applied Physics · OSTI ID:383740

Voltage shifts and imprint in ferroelectric capacitors
Journal Article · Mon Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 1995 · Applied Physics Letters · OSTI ID:83902