Nanoscale bit formation in highly (111)-oriented ferroelectric thin films deposited on glass substrates for high-density storage media.

PbTiO(3) (PTO) ferroelectric films on Pt(111) bottom electrode layers covering Ta/glass were prepared using pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the PTO films were preferentially (111)-oriented. The films were highly crystalline and had a smooth surface with root mean square (RMS) roughness of 1.5 nm. Ferroelectric properties of the PTO films were characterized using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). PFM techniques achieved ferroelectric polarization bits with a minimum width of 22 nm, which corresponds to a potential recording density of 1.3 Tbit/in(2) in ferroelectric storage devices.