  The effect of polarization fatigue on the Rayleigh coefficients of
ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin film was systematically
investigated. It was found that electrical fatigue strongly affects the
Rayleigh behaviour of the PZT film. Both the reversible and irreversible
Rayleigh coefficients decrease with increasing the number of switching cycles.
This phenomenon is attributed to the growth of an interfacial degraded layer
between the electrode and the film during electrical cycling. The methodology
used in this work could serve as an alternative non-destructive way for
evaluating the fatigue endurance and degradation in dielectric properties of
ferroelectric thin-film devices during applications.
