The structural, electrical and ferroelectric properties of a Mn-doped BiFe0.95Mn0.05O3 (BFMO) thin film grown on a (0 0 l) textured Ge-doped ZnO (GZO)/Si(1 0 0) substrate are reported. The GZO served as a buffer layer for improving the.grain growth and the crystallization of the BFMO thin film. Predominantly, the GZO layer, which promotes the grain growth of the (l 0 0) textured BFMO thin film, was utilized as both top and bottom electrodes to assess the electrical and the ferroelectric properties of the BFMO thin film. A study of the electrical properties revealed a low leakage current density (4.95 x 10(-6) A/cm(2) at 100 kV/cm) and a large stability against electrical breakdown for the GZO/BFMO/GZO capacitor. The ferroelectric study determined a large value for the remnant polarization (2P(r)), 78.37 mu C/cm(2), at an applied electric field of 895 kV/cm for the GZO/BFMO/GZO capacitor. Furthermore, the GZO/BFMO/GZO capacitor showed stable polarization switching even after 1.44 x 10(10) electrical cycles. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.