Ferroelectric properties of BFBT(Mn) thin films

Ferroelectric materials show many promising features for applications in tomorrow's electronics. The ability to use polarization to store information in a dense space and good endurance make them one of the top contestants for the next generation memory applications, such as Ferroelectric or Resistive Random-Access Memory elements (FeRAM / ReRAM). The ReRAM elements are also a promising type for the missing circuit element, memristor, which links together the magnetic induction flux and the electric charge. Some materials also exhibit simultaneous ferroelectric polarization and magnetization. These are called multiferroics and could be a key towards magnetoelectric memories and a realization of four-state logic in a single device. A solid state ceramic, BiFeO 3 , has been under recent interest for such a multiferroic material since it exhibits large polarization simultaneously with magnetization. The challenges of BiFeO 3 include its high conductivity for an insulator and poor phase stability. Other materials with similar unit cell structure have been mixed with the material to successfully improve the properties. In this work, the ferroelectric properties of a ceramic solid state compound 0.80[BiFe 0.95 Mn 0.05 O 3 ]–0.20[BaTiO 3 ], or BFBT(Mn), were investigated under various electrical measurements. The results show that the material is ferroelectric. They also show that the conduction mechanism inside the material varies with the applied electric field, hinting to Space Charge Limited Conduction mechanism and Resistive Switching. The phenomenon is expected to be linked to migration of oxygen vacancies inside the sample and formation of conductive filaments.