High temperature retention properties of ferroelectric PZT/YBCO heterostructures investigated by pyroelectric current and phase detection

Epitaxial PZT thin films with preferential polarization orientation have been deposited on oxide YBCO thin films. The retention properties have been examined for the memory cells made of PZT/YBCO heterostructure. A novel pyroelectric current and phase detection method (PCPD) has been developed for ferroelectric polarization retention investigation. A polarization degradation of less than 5% was detected for PZT at temperatures as high as 200/spl deg/C when examined by the PCPD method and by the conventional double pulse method.