Effects of annealing conditions on the electrical properties of Bi4-xNdxTi3O12 (x = 0.46) thin films processed at low temperature

Abstract

Neodymium-substituted Bi4Ti3O12 (BNdT) thin films were prepared by a chemical solution deposition technique on platinum- coated silicon substrates. All of the samples were annealed at the relatively low temperature of 600 °C by a rapid thermal annealing process in different atmospheres, such as O2, air, and nitrogen, and vacuum. Irrespective of different annealing atmospheres, all of the BNdT thin films exhibit good ferroelectric properties, such as a saturated hysteresis loop, good fatigue endurance, and low leakage current density. A large remanent polarization (Pr) of ∼48 μC/cm2 with an electric field of 240 kV/cm was observed from the BNdT thin film annealed in O2 atmosphere. The BNdT thin films annealed in nitrogen and vacuum, at reduced oxygen partial pressures, exhibit smaller Pr than that annealed in oxygen. The difference of Pr of the BNdT thin films annealed in different atmospheres may originate from differences in the grain sizes and the number of oxygen vacancies.