Resistive hysteresis in BiFeO3 thin films

Abstract Capacitor-like Au/BiFeO 3 /SrRuO 3 thin film with (1 1 1) orientation was grown on the SrTiO 3 (1 1 1) substrate by radio frequency magnetic sputtering. It shows a resistive switching behavior, where a stable hysteresis in current–voltage curve was well developed by applying an optimum voltage at room temperature, and it reached the saturation at a bias voltage of 8 V. The Child's law in V max → 0 direction and the interface-limited Fowler–Nordheim tunneling in 0 → V max direction, together with the polarization reversal in the BiFeO 3 barrier, are shown to involve in the observed resistive hysteresis.