title: Polarization fatigue of organic ferroelectric capacitors.
abstract: The polarization of the ferroelectric polymer P(VDF-TrFE) decreases upon prolonged cycling. Understanding of this fatigue behavior is of great technological importance for the implementation of P(VDF-TrFE) in random-access memories. However, the origin of fatigue is still ambiguous. Here we investigate fatigue in thin-film capacitors by systematically varying the frequency and amplitude of the driving waveform. We show that the fatigue is due to delamination of the top electrode. The origin is accumulation of gases, expelled from the capacitor, under the impermeable top electrode. The gases are formed by electron-induced phase decomposition of P(VDF-TrFE), similar as reported for inorganic ferroelectric materials. When the gas barrier is removed and the waveform is adapted, a fatigue-free ferroelectric capacitor based on P(VDF-TrFE) is realized. The capacitor can be cycled for more than 10(8) times, approaching the programming cycle endurance of its inorganic ferroelectric counterparts.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Ilias
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Katsouras
authors.affiliation: 1] Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany [2] Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mengyuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Kamal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asadi
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Applied Physics, Osaka University 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, 565-0871 Osaka, Japan [2] Department of Advanced Materials Science, The University of Tokyo 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8561, Japan.
authors.forename: Junto
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tsurumi
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Glasser
authors.affiliation: Department of Advanced Materials Science, The University of Tokyo 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8561, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takeya
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Paul W M
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Blom
authors.affiliation: 1] Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany [2] King Abdulaziz University, Abdullah Sulayman, 22254 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Dago M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: de Leeuw