Peculiarities of polarization switching in ferroelectric semiconductors with charged inhomogeneities

TL;DR

This paper develops a phenomenological model for polarization switching in ferroelectric semiconductors with charged inhomogeneities, explaining experimental coercive fields and hysteresis loop shapes.

Contribution

It introduces a modified Landau-Ginsburg approach with three coupled equations to describe inhomogeneous ferroelectric systems with charged defects.

Findings

Reproduces low coercive fields observed experimentally.

Models various hysteresis loop shapes including minor and double loops.

Qualitatively explains switching behavior in doped ferroelectric materials.

Abstract

We have proposed the phenomenological description of polarization switching peculiarities in ferroelectric semiconductors with charged defects and prevailing extrinsic conductivity. Exactly we have modified Landau-Ginsburg approach shown that the macroscopic state of the aforementioned inhomogeneous system can be described by three coupled equations for three order parameters. Both the experimentally observed coercive field values well below the thermodynamic one and the various hysteresis loop deformations (minor, constricted and double loops) have been obtained in the framework of our model. The obtained results qualitatively explain the ferroelectric switching in such bulk ferroelectric materials as SBN single crystals doped with Ce, PZT films doped with Nd and La- doped PZT ceramics.