Leakage Current of PLD- and CSD-BiFeO3 Thin Films Observed by Current Sensitive AFM

Abstract

AbstractWe have investigated relationships between leakage current and microstructure or domain structure of BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films, and leakage current mappings of BFO thin films have been performed by current sensitive AFM. 350-nm-thick and 250-nm-thick BFO thin films were prepared on Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and chemical solution deposition (CSD), respectively. Average grain size of PLD-BFO thin film is about 480 nm, which is the same as the film thickness. From the leakage current mapping at a bias voltage of -16 Vdc, leakage current of the BFO thin film flows through not only grain boundary but also the grain itself. On the other hand, CSD-BFO thin film shows rosette structure and small size grains. From the leakage current mapping at a bias voltage of -10 Vdc, leakage current flows along boundaries of the rosette structures. These results indicate that leakage current of BFO strongly depends on its microstructure.