Large remanent polarization and coercive force by 100% 180° domain switching in epitaxial Pb(Zr0.5Ti0.5)O3 capacitor

Pb ( Zr 0.5 Ti 0.5 ) O 3 (PZT) thin film was heteroepitaxially grown on an iridium/magnesium oxide (Ir/MgO) (001) substrate using the metalo-organic decomposition method, and its crystal orientation and ferroelectric properties were investigated. The Ir film by rf-magnetron sputtering on a MgO single crystal showed high crystallinity with the full width at half maximum of 0.2°. The obtained PZT film has a tetragonal structure. Reciprocal space mapping revealed that it consisted of only c-axis orientation. The Ir/PZT/Ir capacitor showed the remanent polarization of 45 μ C/cm2 and a coercive force of 100 kV/cm. These large values were derived from 100% 180° domain switching, which state is difficult to realize in bulky single crystal and ceramics because of piezostress relaxation.