Abstract
The polarization of the ferroelectric polymer P(VDF-TrFE) decreases upon prolonged cycling. Understanding of this fatigue behavior is of great technological importance for the implementation of P(VDF-TrFE) in random-access memories. However, the origin of fatigue is still ambiguous. Here we investigate fatigue in thin-film capacitors by systematically varying the frequency and amplitude of the driving waveform. We show that the fatigue is due to delamination of the top electrode. The origin is accumulation of gases, expelled from the capacitor, under the impermeable top electrode. The gases are formed by electron-induced phase decomposition of P(VDF-TrFE), similar as reported for inorganic ferroelectric materials. When the gas barrier is removed and the waveform is adapted, a fatigue-free ferroelectric capacitor based on P(VDF-TrFE) is realized. The capacitor can be cycled for more than 10 8 times, approaching the programming cycle endurance of its inorganic ferroelectric counterparts.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 5075 |
Journal | Scientific Reports |
Volume | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 27 May 2014 |
Funding
We would like to acknowledge Frank Keller for technical support. We gratefully acknowledge Ir. Leendert van der Tempel and Dr. Peter van de Weijer (Philips Research Laboratories, Eindhoven, the Netherlands) for stimulating discussions on heat management. This work was supported by the JSPS Core-to-Core Program. We acknowledge financial support by the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany and by the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, Groningen, the Netherlands.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General