Subpicosecond Domain Switching in Discrete Regions of Pb(Zr_0.35Ti_0.65)O₃ Thick Films

Abstract

The time dependence of the domain switching current density, Jsw(t), under pulsed voltages on a ferroelectric parallel‐plate capacitor is the consequence of region‐by‐region polarization reversals across the film. As the distributive coercive voltage of domain nucleation increases from zero to the maximum applied voltage during the capacitor charging time, Jsw(t) is proportional to the domain switching speed at each time. By transforming the spatially inhomogeneous domain nucleation distribution into a temporal distribution of coercive fields (Ec), a local lnJsw versus Ec−1 plot is derived for each domain, following the Merz equation. This provides insight into the independent domain switching dynamics at different nucleation sites in Pb(Zr0.35Ti0.65)O3 thick films over a large current range. Although the activation field of the slope of the lnJsw(t) versus Ec−1 plot varies with film area and temperature, all the plots extrapolate to a single point (J0, E0) from which the ultimate domain switching current density of J0 =1.4 × 108 A cm−2 at the highest field of E0 = 0.20‐0.25 MV cm−1 is derived. Unexpectedly, J0 and E0 are independent of the film thickness and area, after correction for a small interfacial‐layer effect. This analysis provides rigorous evidence for nucleation rate‐limited domain switching with a subpicosecond nucleation time and the relative unimportance of domain forward‐growth time across film thicknesses between 0.14 and 2 μm. This work paves the way to improve the efficiency of ferroelectric thick‐film functionality in electronic and optoelectronic devices with ultrafast clock rates.

Accelerated domain switching speed in single-crystal LiNbO3 thin films

“…21 currents. 12,13 With the increase in the field strength, the peak of the switching current becomes narrower and its position moves into the shorter time in Fig. 4(a), in agreement with the general tendency in bulk BaTiO 3 single crystals.…”

Charge control of antiferromagnetism at PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 interface

“…Multiple domains with different polarizations exist near the gate voltage where FE switching occurs in PZT thin film, as reported in Ref. 34. Some FE domains may be switched to the opposite polarization, which leads to a distribution of local FM and AFM domains in the LSMO interface layer.…”

“…The switching transition around U g ¼ 62V is not sharp, resulting from the variance in switching threshold of different FE domains. 34 The hole density at the PZT/LSMO interface can be electrostatically modulated, i.e., hole depletion/accumulation occurs when P points towards/away from the LSMO layer. [10][11][12] From the FE polarization measurement, we derive the change in magnetic contrast A as a function of P, as shown in Fig.…”

Programmable ferroelectric tunnel memristor

“…In this letter, we investigate memristor characteristics and switching kinetics of a memristor based on a ferroelectric tunnel junction that has been shown to obey proper quantum tunneling [7,8] and not thermionic injection, as it has been shown on ferroelectric semiconductors [9]. We demonstrate that the memristive states are univocally related to the polarization switching and that every memristor state can be achieved by design.…”