Partial polarization switching in ferroelectrics-semiconductors with charged defects

Abstract

We propose the phenomenological description of ferroelectric disordering caused by charged defects in ferroelectric-semiconductors. The good agreement between the obtained experimental results for PZT films and theoretical calculations has been shown. We suppose that proportional to the averaged charge density of defects improper conductivity is sufficiently high to provide the screening of charge density random fluctuations drs in the absence of external field. When external electric field is applied, inner field fluctuations and induction fluctuations dD appear in the inhomogeneously polarized system “charged fluctuation + screening cloud”. We show that the macroscopic state of ferroelectric-semiconductor with random charged defects and sufficiently high improper conductivity can be described by three coupled equations for three order parameters. Averaged over sample volume induction determines the ferroelectric ordering in the system, its square fluctuation determines disordering caused by electric field fluctuations appeared around charged fluctuations drs, and reflects the correlations between the free carriers screening cloud and charged defects drs. For the first time, we derive the following system of three coupled equations: Also the obtained system of coupled equations qualitatively describes the peculiarities of polarization switching (footprint and minor hysteresis loops) in such ferroelectric materials with charged defects as PZT films with growth imperfections, PLZT ceramics and SBN single crystals doped with cerium.