Electrical characterizations of lithium niobate thin films in a metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor capacitor

A LiNbO₃ thin film Metal-Ferroelectric-Semiconductor capacitor is analyzed with various electrical characterization methods for studying the polarization switching and the thin film conduction behavior. The polarization density vs. electric field (P-E) curve shows that the remnant polarization is 16.85μC/cm2 and the coercive field is 117.25 KV/cm when maximum applied field is 286.2KV/cm for a sinusoidal input waveform. The capacitance vs. voltage bias (C-V) curve further demonstrates that the polarization charge is the dominant charge in controlling the ferroelectric semiconductor interface property. The switching transient current curve from a dual polarity four pulses chain study (P-S) gives the switching time of the sample about 80–100ns. Current vs. voltage (I–V) curve is explained with a back-to-back Schottky barrier controlled conduction mechanism. These electrical characterization results demonstrate that LiNbO₃ is a promising candidate for a Metal-Ferroelectric-Semiconductor-Field-Effect-Transistor (MFSFET) non-volatile non-destructive memory application.