Enhancement of the Electrical Properties in BaTiO3/PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 Ferroelectric Superlattices.

In this study, BaTiO3/Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (BTO/PZT) ferroelectric superlattices have been grown on the Nb-doped SrTiO3 (NSTO) single-crystal substrate by pulsed laser deposition, and their electrical properties were investigated in detail. The leakage current was reduced significantly in the BTO/PZT superlattices, and the conduction mechanism could be interpreted as the bulk-limited mechanism. In addition, a more symmetric hysteresis loop was observed in the BTO/PZT superlattices compared with the pure PZT and BTO films. The BTO/PZT superlattices with the modulation thickness of 9.8 nm showed remarkably improved dielectric properties with dielectric constant and loss of 684 and 0.02, respectively, measured at the frequency of 10 kHz. Based on these experimental results, it can be considered that the BTO/PZT interfaces play a very important role for the enhanced electrical properties of the BTO/PZT superlattices.