Effect of top metallization on the fatigue and retention properties of sol-gel pzt thin films

Fatigue and retention problems pose significant hurdles towards successful implementation of ferroelectric (FE) memory. The PZT-substrate or PZT-electrode interface is well known to affect the FE properties and specifically the fatigue behaviour. Bottom electrode (or the substrate) is typically a noble metal such as Pt or Au. Pt-PZT-Pt capacitors exhibited fatigue resistance up to 108–109 cycles while RuO2, La0.5Sr0 5C0O3 and YBa2Cu3O7 electrodes yielded fatigue-free devices up to 1011–1011 -cycles. In an early study which compared the fatigue behaviour of bulk PLZT ceramics with various metal electrodes, it was found that In offered the best fatigue performance (up to 109 cycles). These films were fired to 700C to achieve single-phase FE perovskite films. Monolithic capacitors were obtained by depositing top electrodes of Ag, Al, Bi, Cr, Cu, Mg, Ni, Pb, Pd, Pt, Sn, V and Zn. Work fonction difference alone did not fully explain the dependence of the observed electrical properties and fatigue bahaviours on the choice of metal electrodes. Rather, the reactivity of the metal and interfacial states at the PZT-metal junctions impacted more on the device characteristics. Zn as the top electrode seemed to offer the optimal fatigue resistant devices.