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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 July 2012
Heterostructured Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3/ZrO2/Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 thin films are fabricated on the platinized Si substrates by a sol-gel process. The current versus voltage measurements are taken on these films by varying the thickness of ZrO2 layer. We have found that inserting a ZrO2 layer in between two BST layers results in a significant reduction in leakage current which is very essential for the low dissipation energy and hence faster operation of memory devices. It is observed that the leakage current further decreases as the ZrO2layer thickness increases. Also it is seen that different conduction mechanisms are contributing to the leakage current in the different field regions. Poole-Frenkel (PF), space charge limited current (SCLC), and Ohmic mechanisms are the dominating conduction processes in high, medium, and low field regions respectively. An energy band diagram is given to explain the Ohmic conduction in the low field region and the Poole-Frenkel conduction mechanism in the high field region for these devices.