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 means of the reactive sputtering method. PtRhOy/PZT/PtRhOy/n+ Si capacitors showed well-defined P–E hysteresis loops. The remanent polarizations, as well as the polarization loss after the switching repetitions, were varied with the ratio of Zr/Ti. Especially, Pb(Zr0.4Ti0.6)O3 thin film capacitor showed the superior ferroelectric properties, such as the P–E hysteresis characteristics and the polarization fatigue. The typical remanent polarization and the coercive field of this capacitor were 22 μC/cm2 and 87 kV/cm, respectively, and the polarization loss was only less than 5% after 1011 switching repetitions. From the measurement of the depth profile and the microstructure of this capacitor, it could be convinced that single-layered PtRhOy films behaved as high quality electrode barriers for PZT thin film capacitors.