Coercive fields in ultrathin BaTiO3 capacitors

Thickness-dependence of coercive field (EC) was investigated in ultrathin BaTiO3 capacitors with thicknesses (d) between 30 and 5 nm. The EC appears nearly independent of d below 15 nm, and decreases slowly as d increases above 15 nm. This behavior cannot be explained by extrinsic effects, such as interfacial passive layers or strain relaxation, nor by homogeneous domain models. Based on domain nuclei formation model, the observed EC behavior is explainable via a quantitative level. A crossover of domain shape from a half-prolate spheroid to a cylinder is also suggested at d~ 15 nm, exhibiting good agreement with experimental results.