Birefringent bistability in (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 thin films with a ferroelectric-semiconductor interface

Abstract
We report a birefringent bistability exhibited in ferroelectric thin films with a ferroelectric‐semiconductor interface. Such birefringent bistability is observed in (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 (PLZT) thin films which are sandwiched between a platinum and a semiconducting indium‐tin oxide (ITO) electrode. The magnitude of the birefringence between the two remanent states is approximately 0.9×10−3. The Pt/PLZT/ITO structure features a nonvolatile electro‐optic memory operation, i.e., the switching between the two remanent birefringent states with bipolar electric pulses.