Negative differential resistance in ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate thin films: influence of interband tunneling on leakage current

[[abstract]]© 2004 Japanese Journal of Applied Physics--The leakage current in ferroelectric thin films is one of the most pertinent issues for their application in microelectronics. We argue that the leakage current in ferroelectric films at low electric field can arise from interband tunneling as opposed to Fowler-Nordheim tunneling at high electric field. We substantiate our argument by showing the evolution of negative differential resistance (NDR) with decreasing film thickness in the I-V curves of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films prepared under controlled conditions[[fileno]]2030179010052[[department]]電機工程學