Ceramic ferroelectric field effect studies

The ferroelectric field effect has been observed in a semiconducting thin film of n-type tin oxide deposited on a ferroelectric lead zirconate-titanate ceramic substrate. The semiconductor was deposited by electron gun evaporation onto a thermally depolarized (randomly oriented) substrate which permitted the carrier concentration of the film to be enhanced or depleted depending on the direction of polarization of the substrate. Typical average resistivity values of 200-Å films are approximately 0.1 Ω.cm for the depoled state, 0.01 Ω.cm for the enhanced state, and 100-1000 Ω.cm for the depleted state. "On"-"off" ratios as high as have been observed in a single device. The transition from enhancement to depletion is quasi-continuous due to the small size and random orientation of the individual crystallites in the ceramic. Conductance measurements during this transition have yielded field effect mobilities in the range 7-10 cm²/V.s; and maximum average carrier densities in the range 0.5-1.0 × 10²⁰carriers/cm3. The tin oxide-ceramic devices described here suffer from the long-term drift that is characteristic of many field effect devices. The resistivity of a device stored in the depleted state will decrease from 3 to 4 orders of magnitude in times between 10⁴-10⁵minutes.