Drastic reduction of leakage current in ferroelectric Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 films by ionizing radiation

Abstract: Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 (BNT) ferroelectric thin films were grown on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by a sol–gel method. The samples were exposed to different dosage of ionizing radiation. Distortions in the crystalline structure, changes in the surface roughness and decrease in the remnant polarization were observed after radiation. For films subjected to 100Mrad radiation, decrease in the leakage current up to four orders of magnitude was also observed, which can be explained by the increased grain boundary barrier height. Our results suggest that ionizing radiation could be an effective tool in modifying the properties of ferroelectric thin film for use in non-volatile memory devices. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]