Processing of a uniaxial ferroelectric Pb5Ge3O11 thin film at 450 °C with c-axis orientation

Uniaxial Pb5Ge3O11 thin films were successfully fabricated by the sol-gel processing route. Crack-free and c-axis oriented thin films (1600 Å) were observed on (111) Pt-coated Si substrates when heat treated at 450 °C for 15 min. The thin films exhibited well saturated P-E hysteresis loops with Pr=3.3 μC/cm2, Ps=3.7 μC/cm2, and Ec=135 kV/cm. Specifically, a 1600 Å film switched at 2.2 V. The possible applications such as nonvolatile ferroelectric memories and CCD IR image sensors without fatigue or retention problems, are discussed.