Abstract
Randomly oriented ferroelectric cerium-substituted $Bi_4Ti_3O_{12}$ thin films have been prepared by using metal-organic decomposition method. The layered perovskite structure was investigated using annealing for 1 h in the temperature range from $550\;{\sim}\;750\;^{\circ}C$. The structure and morphology of the films were characterized using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy The $Bi_{3.4}Ce_{0.6}Ti_3O_{12}$ (BCeT) thin films showed a perovskite phase and dense microstructure. The grain size of the BCeT films increasedwith increasing annealing temperature. The hysteresis loops of the films were well defined at temperatures above $600\;^{\circ}C$. The 200-nm-thick BCeT thin films annealed at $650\;^{\circ}C$ showed a large remanent polarization (2Pr) of 59.3 ${\mu}C/cm^2$ at an applied voltage of 10 V. The BCeT thin films showed good fatigue endurance up to $5\;{\times}\;10^9$ bipolar cycling at 5 V and 100 kHz.