Leakage current behavior of Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 ferroelectric thin films deposited on different bottom electrodes

Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 (BLT) thin films were grown on LaNiO3 (LNO), RuO2 (RuO2) and La0.5Sr0.5CoO3 (LSCO) bottom electrodes by using the polymeric precursor method and microwave furnace. The bottom electrode is found to be an important parameter which affects the crystallization, morphology and leakage current behaviors. The XRD results clearly show that film deposited on LSCO electrode favours the growth of (1 1 7) oriented grains whereas in films deposited on LNO and RuO2 the growth of (0 0 l) oriented grains dominated. The film deposited on LSCO has a plate-like grain structure, and its leakage current behavior is in agreement with the prediction of the space-charge-limited conduction model. On the other hand, the films deposited on RuO2 and LNO electrodes present a rounded grain shape with some porosity, and its high field conduction is well explained by the Schottky and Poole–Frenke1 emission models. The remanent polarization (Pr) and the drive voltage (Vc) were in the range of 11–23 μC cm−2 and 0.86–1.56 V, respectively, and are better than the values found in the literature.