Lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr 0.50 Ti 0.50 )O 3 (PZT) thin films were deposited by a polymeric chemical method on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO 2 /Si substrates to understand the mechanisms of phase transformations and the effect of film thickness on the structure, dielectric, and piezoelectric properties in these films. PZT films pyrolyzed at temperatures higher than 350 C present a coexistence of pyrochlore and perovskite phases, while only perovskite phase grows in films pyrolyzed at temperatures lower than 300 C. For pyrochlore-free PZT thin films, a small (100)-orientation tendency near the film-substrate interface was observed. Finally, we demonstrate the existence of a self-polarization effect in the studied PZT thin films. The increase of self-polarization with the film thickness increasing from 200 nm to 710 nm suggests that Schottky barriers and/or mechanical coupling near the film-substrate interface are not primarily responsible for the observed self-polarization effect in our films. V C 2013 AIP Publishing LLC [http://dx

International audiencePiezoelectric properties of randomly oriented self-polarized PbZr0.50Ti0.50O3 (PZT) thin films were investigated using in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Possibilities for investigating the piezoelectric effect using microsized hard X-ray beams are demonstrated and perspectives for future dynamical measurements on PZT samples with variety of compositions and thicknesses are given. Studies performed on the crystalline [100, 110] directions evidenced piezoelectric anisotropy. The piezoelectric coefficient d(33) was calculated in terms of the lab reference frame (d(perp)) and found to be two times larger along the [100] direction than along the [110] direction. The absolute values for the d(perp) amount to 120 and 230 pm/V being in good agreement with experimental and theoretical values found in literature for bulk PZT ceramics. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The structural properties of Pb(Zr0.50Ti0.50)O3 thin films with no preferential orientation were studied throughout the film thickness. An analysis on depth profile shows the existence of a significant (1 0 0) alignment near the film–electrode interface. Nanoscale piezoelectric measurements demonstrate the existence of a self-polarization effect in the studied films. An increase in this effect with film thickness increasing from 200 to 710 nm suggests that Schottky barriers and/or mechanical coupling near the film–electrode interface cannot be the main mechanisms responsible for the self-polarization effect in the studied films.

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In this paper, electrical and structural properties were reported for pyrochlore free (1 − x)[Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3] − xPbTiO3 (PMN–PT) (with 35 mol% PbTiO3) ceramics obtained from fine powders. Dielectric studies were focused on the investigation of the complex dielectric permittivity (ε′ − iε″) as a function of frequency and temperature. The effects of the dc applied electric field on dielectric response were also investigated. Results revealed a field dependence dielectric anomaly in the dielectric permittivity curves (ε(T)) in the low dc electric field region, which in turn prevails in the whole analysed frequency interval. To the best of our knowledge, these properties for the PMN–PT ceramic system have not been reported before as in this work. The results were analysed within the framework of the current models found in the literature.