Fabrication and properties of epitaxial ferroelectric heterostructures with (SrRuO3) isotropic metallic oxide electrodes

Abstract

Epitaxial ferroelectric SrRuO₃/Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃/SrRuO₃ heterostructures have been fabricated employing isotropic metallic oxide electrodes on (100) SrTiO₃ and (100) Si with an yttria stabilized zirconia buffer layer. The structures have been grown in situ by 90° off‐axis sputtering, which allows the growth of uniform stoichiometric films over large areas with excellent step coverage. X‐ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, and cross‐sectional transmission electron microscopy reveal high crystalline quality and coherent interfaces. They exhibit superior fatigue characteristics over those made with metal electrodes, showing little degradation over 10¹⁰ cycles, with a large remnant polarization.