Investigations of Mesoscopic Ferroelectric Structures Prepared by Imprint Lithography

Abstract

ABSTRACTArrays of mesoscopic ferroelectric PZT structures with lateral sizes from several micrometers down to below 300 nm were prepared applying nanoimprint lithography. The ferroelectric properties of the mesoscopic structures were investigated by scanning force microscopy in piezoresponse mode. The best chemical route to obtain ferroelectric structures was found to be the sol-gel method. Using Nb-doped SrTiO3 single crystals as bottom electrodes, the crystallization into the ferroelectric phase was uniform with grain sizes in the 35 nm range. The best ferroelectric properties of individual 300 nm structures were obtained if an intermediate, continuous ferroelectric layer was present on the bottom electrode.