Proton-irradiated Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 thick films for flexible non-volatile memory applications

We investigated the ferroelectricity in proton-irradiated flexible Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ (PZT) thick films and their non-volatile memory characteristics. The Ni-Cr metal foil substrate allowed high-quality polycrystalline PZT films with flexible functionality to be fabricated using conventional sol-gel and high-temperature annealing methods. The 10-MeV proton-irradiated PZT film exhibited an almost square polarization?electric field hysteresis curve with saturated (P_s) and remnant (P_r) polarizations of 18.9 and 17.0 μC/cm², respectively; which are slightly lower than as-grown PZT with P_s = 28.7 μC/cm² and P_r = 24.3 μC/cm². The P_r did not decrease even after 1000 cycles of continuous bending and unbending at a bending radius of 2.14 mm and decreased slightly to ～80% of its initial value after 10⁵ s. Although the P_r decreased to ～55% after 10¹⁰ cycles, the electric polarization remained switchable under positive and negative electric fields. These characteristics suggest that the flexible PZT films could be utilized in non-volatile memory device applications in environments with high doses of proton irradiation, such as those in aeronautics and nuclear power plants.