Enhanced ferroelectric properties in Bi-doped K0.5Na0.5NbO3 thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

• Lead-free ferroelectric Bi-doped K0.5Na0.5NbO3 (KNN) and undoped KNN films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition.
• The remanent polarization (Pr = 28 μC/cm2) of Bi-doped film was about four times larger than that of the undoped film.
• The conduction mechanisms of Bi-doped film determined to be Space-Charge-Limited-Current and Poole–Frenkle emission at low and high electric field, respectively.

Lead-free ferroelectric Bi-doped K0.5Na0.5NbO3 (KNN) and undoped KNN films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition. Bi-doped film exhibited good crystallization and improved ferroelectric properties. The dielectric constant and loss tangent were 1038 and 0.138 at 1 kHz, respectively. The remanent polarization (Pr = 28 μC/cm2) of Bi-doped film was about four times larger than that of the undoped film, which attributed to the decrease of oxygen vacancies concentration. The coercive field (Ec = 24 kV/cm) of Bi-doped films was half of the undoped film. The conduction mechanisms of Bi-doped film determined to be Space-Charge-Limited-Current and Poole–Frenkle emission at low and high electric field, respectively.