Scaling of ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties in Pt/SrBi2Ta2O9/Pt thin films

Scaling of the ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties in Pt/SrBi2Ta2O9/Pt thin films was studied. Focused ion beam milling was used to fabricate submicron devices (1 × 1, 0.5 × 0.5, 0.25 × 0.25, 0.09 × 0.09, and 0.07 × 0.07 μm2) and scanning force microscopy was used to examine their piezoelectric response. It was found that capacitors as small as 0.09 × 0.09 μm2 exhibit good piezoelectric/ferroelectric properties and that submicron (0.25 × 0.25 μm2) capacitors show resistance to bipolar fatigue with up to at least 109 cycles. The results were compared with similar capacitor structures milled in the Pb1.0(Nb0.04Zr0.28Ti0.68)O 3 system where structures as small as 0.07 × 0.07 μm2 were analyzed. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.