Ferroelectric and Structural Properties of Cobalt-Doped Lead Ferrite Thin Films Formed by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

Cobalt-doped lead ferrite (Pb2Fe2O5) thin films were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of the cobalt concentration and synthesis temperature on the structure, phase composition and ferroelectric properties of Pb2Fe2O5 thin films was investigated. It was determined that the increase in deposition temperature increased the grain size and density of the Co-doped PFO thin films. The XRD data demonstrated that the Co-doped Pb2Fe2O5 thin films consisted of Pb2Fe2O5 and PbO phases with a low amount of CoO and Co3O4 phases. The increase in the cobalt concentration in the Pb2Fe2O5 films slightly enhanced the cobalt oxide phase content. Polarization dependence on electric field measurement demonstrated that the highest ferroelectric properties of the Co-doped Pb2Fe2O5 films were obtained when the synthesis was performed at 550 °C temperatures. The increase in the cobalt concentration in the films enhanced the remnant polarization and coercive field values. It was found that the Co-doped Pb2Fe2O5 film deposited at 550 °C temperature and containing 10% cobalt had the highest remnant polarization (72 µC/cm2) and coercive electric field (105 kV/cm).