Unipolar and bipolar fatigue in antiferroelectric lead zirconate thin films and evidences for switching-induced charge injection inducing fatigue

Abstract

We show that unipolar fatigue does occur in antiferroelectric capacitors, confirming the predictions of a previous work [Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 072901 (2009)]. We also show that unipolar fatigue in antiferroelectrics is less severe than bipolar fatigue if the driving field is of the same magnitude. This phenomenon has been attributed to the switching-induced charge injection, the main cause for polarization fatigue in ferroelectric and antiferroelectric materials. Other evidences for polarization fatigue caused by the switching-induced charge injection from the nearby electrode rather than the charge injection during the stable/quasistable leakage current stage are also discussed. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.