23 - Ferroelectric perovskite thin films as nonvolatile computer memories

Abstract

The anniversary of the first publication of ferroelectric behavior in Rochelle salt in the year 2021 has attracted the attention of the discussion on its piezoelectric properties. The impact of ferroelectricity on our everyday life has increased in the last many decades. In recent years, increasing efforts have been made to develop novel nonvolatile memory concepts to meet the increasing demands in terms of scalability and energy consumption. Various ferroelectric materials have been developed and designed with a wide range of applications. Most of the devices utilized ferroelectric materials containing lead such as Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT), which is not environmentally friendly and harmful to human health. This brings researchers to develop lead-free ferroelectric materials which can replace lead-based materials. Perovskite ferroelectric materials are considered one of the important lead-free ferroelectric materials in constructing electronic devices due to their low cost, easy way of synthesis, outstanding electronic and optoelectronic properties, etc. Hence, significant efforts have been devoted to the research of perovskite-based high-dense materials that have a dominant effect on the electronic properties of devices. This chapter has been written from the point of view of structural morphologies of perovskite ferroelectric materials that play an important role in designing perovskite-based devices. Here, we have discussed the role of octahedra and its displacement/distortion in the different variants of the perovskite compounds to understand the ferroelectric properties. In addition, the materials preparation methods, device structure, working mechanism, and their important features have been explained in detail. Finally, the application of these ferroelectric perovskites in the field of nonvolatile memory is discussed.