Enhanced ferroelectric properties of epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 film with LaAlO3 buffer

PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 films (PZT) have been grown epitaxially on SrRuO3/LaAlO3 (SRO/LAO) substrates using pulse laser deposition. In order to improve the ferroelectric properties of the PZT, one LAO buffer was introduced into the interface of PZT/SRO. The dependence of the electrical properties of the PZT films on the buffer thickness was studied. When a 10-nm-thick buffer was used, the remnant polarization (Pr) of the PZT film reached 58 ± 5 μC/cm2, 2 times larger than the sample without any buffer layer. The leakage current was reduced 1–2 orders of magnitude. Besides, the PZT film with 10-nm-thick LAO buffer also exhibited good fatigue endurance after 109 switching cycles. These results could propose one effective way to improve the properties of ferroelectric films deposited on oxide electrodes.