Abstract: With the help of Ginzburg-Landau-Devonshire (GLD) theory, the influence of imperfect surface layers on the properties of first-order ferroelectric thin films intercalated between two metal electrodes is theoretically studied. The results show that the imperfect surface layer of ferroelectric thin films lowers the phase transition temperature. When the imperfect surface layers are asymmetric, the hysteresis hoop of the ferroelectric thin film loses its center symmetry.

Key words: first-order phase transition, ferroelectric thin film, GLD theory, hysteresis hoop