Morphological and electrical studies of Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 electroceramics.

The conventional solid-state reaction route has been utilized to synthesize Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 ceramics. The surface morphology and structural properties are studied using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction patterns, respectively. The X-ray diffraction patterns show sharp and intense peaks explaining better crystallinity of compositional ceramic. The peak splitting around 31.7° confirms the tetragonal phase. The electrical measurements have been carried out on metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) capacitors. The calculated dielectric constant is around 26 at 1 MHz. The hopping of electrons over the trap centers leads to the ac conduction at a low field. Jonscher's power model justified the ac conductivity curve, and attained data are fitted accordingly. The polarization and coercive field decrease initially with the rise of measurement frequency and later increased with frequency. The ferroelectric hysteresis loop generally observed in the thin films of Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 has not seen the polarization-electric field curve of bulk Hf0.5Zr0.5O2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]