In this study, the reliability (fatigue, imprint, and retention) of Pt/SBT/Pt capacitors was investigated. For non-integrated test capacitors, using a different process for top and bottom electrode formation, fatigue degradation is larger than for integrated capacitors using symmetric top and bottom electrode deposition process. Also, for the non-integrated capacitors, imprint behavior and retention loss were observed to depend on the voltage polarity. From hysteresis as well as leakage characteristics, these effects were attributed to the presence of a built-in field favoring the polarization of SBT from the bottom to the top electrode in non-integrated capacitors. The built-in field was attributed to defect generation during the top electrode sputtering at room temperature. For the integrated capacitors, whereby the top electrode is deposited using the same high temperature process (> 150 degrees C) as the bottom electrode, neither imprint degradation nor retention loss was observed under the applied conditions, showing excellent reliability of integrated SBT capacitors. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.