Ferroelectric properties of Bi3.4Y0.6Ti3O12 thin films prepared by a modified sol-gel process

Rare earth Y-doped bismuth titanate (Bi3.4Y0.6Ti3O12) precursor solution was obtained by a sol-gel method. Bi3.4Y0.6Ti3O12(BYT) ferroelectric thin films with a bismuth-layered perovskite structure were prepared on Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si substrates by spin-coating deposition and a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. The structures of the BYT films were characterized by XRD. Ferroelectric properties such as the hysteresis behavior, fatigue properties as well as C-V characteristics of the BYT thin films were investigated with RT-66A tester and HP4194 impendence analyzer, respectively. The crystalline BYT thin films can be obtained by rapid thermal annealing the spin-on thin films at 650 degrees C for 3 minutes. The experimental results show that the BYT thin films are suitable for non-volatile ferroelectric random access memories.