Ce-doped bismuth ferrite thin films with improved electrical and functional properties

Bi_1?xCe_xFeO₃ (BCFO) thin film capacitors (x = 0 to 0.2) are fabricated on indium tin oxide coated corning glass substrate by chemical solution deposition method. X-ray diffraction results show a partial phase transition from rhombohedral to tetragonal structure induced in BCFO thin film having preferred (110) orientation with increase in Ce dopant concentration. Current density–field (J–E) characteristics indicate that the leakage current density reduces by several orders of magnitude in Ce-doped BFO thin films resulting from smaller grain sizes and smoother surfaces. Space-charge-limited current and Fowler–Nordheim tunneling are identified as dominating leakage behavior in BCFO thin film capacitors at moderate and high field regions, respectively. Enhanced ferroelectric response with well-saturated (P–E) hysteresis loop is observed for Bi_0.88Ce_0.12FeO₃ thin film having high remnant polarization (P _r—127 µC/cm²) at an applied field of 1080 kV/cm. Bi_0.88Ce_0.12FeO₃ thin film exhibiting well-defined capacitance–field (C–E) butterfly loop with dielectric loss (tan δ—0.03) measured at 10 kHz suggested good ferroelectric properties with high tunability of about 88 %.