Epitaxial (001) $BiFeO3$ membranes with substantially reduced fatigue and leakage

We report substantially reduced fatigue and electrical leakage in $BiFeO3$ membranes fabricated by releasing epitaxial (001) $BiFeO3$ films from the Si substrates on which they were grown. Fatigue-free switching behavior of up to $1010cycles$ was observed for $BiFeO3$ membranes with Pt top electrodes, while as-grown films break down at $∼109cycles$⁠. This is attributed to the low coercive field of $BiFeO3$ membranes and their being free from substrate clamping. In contrast, (111) $BiFeO3$ films exhibit significant fatigue at the same electric field. Epitaxial (001) $BiFeO3$ membranes with low coercive field are very promising for lead-free ferroelectric memory and magnetoelectric devices.