Leakage behavior and distortion of the hysteresis loop in ferroelectric thin films

Leakage behavior and distortion of the polarization hysteresis loop in ferroelectric thin films are analyzed by applying a totally depleted asymmetric back-to-back Schottky model, with the Pt/Pb(Zr, Ti)O3/Pt ( Pt/ PZT/Pt) sandwich structural thin film capacitor as an example. Some interesting phenomena resulting from the asymmetric interfaces, such as the leakage current level, the flat-band voltage, the disclosure of the hysteresis loop, and the change in the remanent polarization and coercive field, as well as the vertical drift of the polarization hysteresis loop, are discussed in detail. The calculated results are also verified with experiments.