Effect of annealing temperature on the ferroelectric properties of BiFeO₃ thin films prepared by sol-gel process

Abstract

Sol-gel process was adopted to prepare BiFeO₃ films. BiFeO₃ films were deposited on LaNiO₃ coated Si(100) substrates annealed at 500 and 550 °C, respectively. The X-ray diffraction results reveal that BiFeO₃ film has a rhombohedrally distorted perovskite structure with space group R3c. The film annealed at 500 °C has larger remnant polarization (P _r) of 35.3 µC/cm². For the film annealed at 550 °C, smaller remnant polarization of P _r=4.8 µC/cm² is observed for its low breakdown electric field. Lower leakage conduction is observed in the film annealed at 500 °C at low applied field.

Keywords

multiferroics / BiFeO₃ thin film / sol-gel method / ferroelectricity / dielectric property

References

[1] Wang K. F., Liu J.-M., Ren Z.F. Multiferroicity: the Coupling Between Magnetic and Polarization Orders[J]. Advances in Physics, 2009, 58(4): 321-448.

[2] Fiebig M. Revival of the Magnetoelectric Effect[J]. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., 2005, 38: R123-R152.

[3] Wang J., Neaton J. B., Zheng V H., . Epitaxial BiFeO₃ Multiferroic Thin Film Heterostructures[J]. Science, 2003, 299: 1 719-1 722.

[4] Yun K. Y., Noda M., Okuyama M., . Structural and Multiferroic Properties of BiFeO₃ Thin Films at Room Temperature[ J]. J. Appl. Phys., 2004, 96: 3 399-3 403.

[5] Kumar M. M., Palkar V. R. Ferroelectricity in a Pure BiFeO₃ Ceramic[J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2000, 76: 2 764-2 766.

[6] Iakovlev S., Solterbeck C. H., Kuhnke M., . Multiferroic BiFeO₃ Thin Films Processed via Chemical Solution Deposition: Structural and Electrical Characterization[J]. J. Appl. Phys., 2005, 97: 094 901-094 906.

[7] Lee Y. H., Wu J. M., Lai C. H. Influence of La Doping in Multiferroic Properties of BiFeO₃ Thin Films[J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2006, 88: 042 903-042 905.

[8] Kim J. K., Kim S. S., Kim W. J. Enhanced Ferroelectric Properties of Cr-doped BiFeO₃ Thin Films Grown by Chemical Solution Deposition[J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2006, 88: 132 901-132 903.

[9] Wang Y., Jiang Q. H., He H. C., . Multiferroic BiFeO₃ Thin Films Prepared via a Simple Sol-gel Method[J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2006, 88: 142 503-1-142 503-3.

[10] Meng X. J., Cheng J. G., Sun J. L., . Growth of (1 0 0)-oriented LaNiO₃ Thin Films Directly on Si Substrates by a Simple Metalorganic Decomposition Technique for the Highly Oriented PZT Thin Fims[J]. J. Cryst. Growth, 2000, 220: 100-104.

[11] Bao D. H., Yao X., Naoki W., . Structural, Dielectric, and Ferroelectric Properties of PbTiO₃ Thin Films by a Simple Sol-gel Technique[J]. Mater. Sci. Engin., 2002, B94: 269-274.

[12] Nagai A., Morioka H., Asano G., . Preparing Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ Films Less than 100 nm Thick by Low-temperature Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition[J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2005, 86: 142 906-142 908.

[13] Liu Z., Liu H., Du G., . Electric Properties of BiFeO₃ Films Deposited on LaNiO₃ by Sol-gel Process[J]. J. Appl. Phys., 2006, 100: 044 110-1-044 110-4.

[14] Lee S. W., Kim C. S. Growth of Multiferroics BiFeO₃ Thin Films by Sol-gel Method[J]. J. Magn. Magn. Mater., 2006, 304: 772-774.

[15] Wang J., Neaton J. B., Zheng H. Epitaxial BiFeO₃ Multiferroic Thin Film Heterostructures[J]. Science, 2003, 299: 1 719-1 722.

[16] Yun K. Y., Noda M., Okuyama M. Prominent Ferroelectricity of BiFeO₃ Thin Films Prepared by Pulsed-laser Deposition[ J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2003, 83: 3 981-3 983.

[17] Qi X., Dho J., Tomov R., . Greatly Reduced Leakage Current and Conduction Mechanism in Aliovalent-ion-doped BiFeO₃[J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2005, 86: 062 903-1-062 903-3.

[18] Michel C., Moreau J. M., Achenbach G. D., . The Atomic Structure of BiFeO₃[J]. Solid State Commun., 1969, 7: 701-704.

[19] Sosnovska Peterlin-Neumaier I., Steichele T., . Magnetic Ordering in Bismuth Ferrite[J]. J. Phys. C, 1982, 15: 4 835-4 846.