Preparation and characterization of BiFeO3/LaNiO3 heterostructure films grown on silicon substrate

BiFeO3/LaNiO3 (BFO/LNO) heterostructure films are fabricated directly on Si (1 0 0) substrate. The LaNiO3 layer, which is prepared by chemical solution deposition, is used both as the seed layer to improve the quality of BiFeO3 layer, and as the bottom electrode for the electrical measurement. The BiFeO3 layer, which is fabricated by pulsed laser deposition, presents compact microstructure with grain size about 100 nm. Saturated hysteresis loops of polarization vs. applied voltage have been measured at the frequency of 1 kHz. The value of remnant polarization is about 40 mu C/cm(2). The frequency dependence of capacitance and loss tangent of the heterostructure is also Studied. All the results of the electrical measurements indicate that the effect of leakage current has been suppressed in the BFO/LNO heterostructure. The results are significative for the application of BiFeO3 films in microelectronic devices. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.