Metal-Ferroelectric-Semiconductor Characteristics of BaMgF₄ Films on p-Silicon

Abstract

Capacitance-voltage characterstics of BaMgF4 film deposited in an ion-assisted deposition system shows hysteresis and the direction of hysteresis corresponds to ferroelectric polarization. Electrical characterization of the films shows that these films can be used to implement non-destructive read-out non-volatile ferroelectric memories. These films were found to dissolve in water and other aqueous solutions. In order to overcome this problem, a suitable capping layer like zirconium oxide and amorphous silicon was deposited on BMF films. The shift in threshold voltage did not change significantly due to the incorporation of the capping layer. The shift in threshold voltage was found to be temperature dependent and this might be due to ionic conduction in fluorides.