Temperature Dependent Switching Dynamics in BaTiO₃ at ns Speeds

BaTiO3 (BTO) is a model ferroelectric, which has been studied extensively, both in bulk crystals and thin films. We have made significant progress, achieving ultra-low coercive fields in thin film BTO samples that hold promise for low-power microelectronics. While there has been extensive work studying switching kinetics in BTO, relatively few studies have performed time-domain experiments on timescales in the low ns regime, since they are typically limited with instrumental constraints (e.g., rise time of oscilloscope or the voltage source). We are able to access this regime by using ultra-low coercive field BTO as a model system and measuring the response to voltage pulses with ~100ps rise time. We present data revealing switching speeds faster than previous reports for BTO, on the order of 1ns. Further, with this setup we study switching dynamics as a function of temperature as we approach the ferroelectric phase transition. The data reveals a decrease in switching time with increasing temperature, which we analyze in the context of classical ferroelectric switching theory.