The ferroelectric properties of BiFeO3 (BFO) films spray deposited on porous silicon have been studied. The analysis of XRD and FESEM investigations show that the crystalline strain in the BFO films increases with pore size. The BFO films on porous silicon substrate showed improvement in ferroelectric fatigue behavior, remanent polarization and ferroelectric switching time. A maximum memory window of 5.54 V at 1 MHz and a large remanent polarization (P-r) of 13.1 mu C/cm(2) have been obtained at room temperature. The improvement in the ferroelectric properties of these films has been correlated to the crystalline strain. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.