Thermally Activated Low Frequency Dielectric Dispersion of Antiferroelectric Pb 1.075 La 0.025 Zr 0.95 Ti 0.05 O 3 Thin Film

Abstract

Antiferroelectric Pb 1.075 La 0.025 Zr 0.95 Ti 0.05 O 3 (PLZT) thin films on Pt/Ti/SiO 2 /Si substrate have been fabricated by pulsed laser deposition technique. The temperature dependent dielectric constant and polarization-electric field (P-E) hysteresis loops of PLZT film demonstrate the phase transition from antiferroelectric to ferroelectric. The Curie temperature (T c ) and dielectric constant at T c are 196C and 2065, respectively. The maximum saturated polarization reaches nearly 50 w C/cm 2 , corresponding to a maximum induced charge of 12.5 nC. The complex dielectric constants and ac conductivities of PLZT thin film are measured as a function of frequency (0.01Hz∼1 MHz) and temperature (25∼200C) in order to investigate dielectric dispersions and conduction mechanisms. We also observe the strong low-frequency dielectric dispersion at high temperature above 125C due to the migration of thermally activated oxygen vacancies. The estimated activation energy for conduction is 0.76 eV. The conduction mechanism seems more complicated than simple hopping model. Consequently, understanding of oxygen vacancy transfer in the antiferroelectric PLZT thin film is important for practical applications in high charge storage and actuator devices.