The influence of interface on the spontaneous polarisation in PbTiO3 thin films deposited on a silicon substrate

Metal/ Ferroelectric/ Semiconductor (MFS) heterostructures have been of interest in the last decade due to possibility of their potential integration in classical silicon technology and because their potential use in memory devices. Research in this field has lead to new generations of sensors and actuators, laser modulators and deflectors, non-volatile random access memories (NRAM's). Unfortunately many at these types of devices remain in the prototype phase because of the impossibility to know and control phenomena which appear at the ferroelectric/ semiconductor interface. The present paper presents some results on the investigation of a PbTiO3/ Si heterostructure. A study of the film occurring at the interface and how it influences the ferroelectric properties of the heterostructure can clarify some problems of the reproducibility of the parameters of a MFS heterostructure.