Tunnel electroresistance in junctions with ultrathin ferroelectric Pb(Zr 0.2 Ti 0.8 )O 3 barriers

In ferroelectric tunnel junctions, the ferroelectric polarization state of the barrier influences the quantum-mechanical tunneling through the junction, resulting in tunnel electroresistance (TER). Here, we investigate tunnel electroresistance in Co/PbZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 /La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 tunnel ju...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2012-06, Vol.100 (23), p.232902-232902-4
Main Authors: Pantel, Daniel, Lu, Haidong, Goetze, Silvana, Werner, Peter, Jik Kim, Dong, Gruverman, Alexei, Hesse, Dietrich, Alexe, Marin
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:In ferroelectric tunnel junctions, the ferroelectric polarization state of the barrier influences the quantum-mechanical tunneling through the junction, resulting in tunnel electroresistance (TER). Here, we investigate tunnel electroresistance in Co/PbZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 /La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 tunnel junctions. The ferroelectric polarization in tunnel junctions with 1.2-1.6nm (three to four unit cells) PbZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 thickness and an area of 0.04 μ m 2 can be switched by about 1V yielding a resistive ON/OFF-ratio of about 300 at 0.4V. Combined piezoresponse force microscopy and electronic transport investigations of these junctions reveal that the transport mechanism is quantum tunneling and the resistive switching in these junctions is due only to ferroelectric switching.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4726120