Solid phase epitaxial growth of sol-gel derived Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 thin films on SrTiO3 and MgO

Abstract

Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) thin films were crystallized on SrTiO3 (100) and MgO (100) substrates by a sol-gel process using nonhydrolyzed metal methoxyethoxide precursors, spin coating, and rapid thermal annealing. Solid phase epitaxial growth of PZT on SrTiO3 was observed directly from the amorphous phase even at 425 °C. The PZT had a single (001) orientation and rocking curve full width at half maximum (FWHM) less than 0.1°. High-temperature annealing of MgO substrates improved orientation of PZT thin films. Epitaxial crystallization of PZT with a single (001) orientation on the annealed MgO was observed at temperature above 550 °C after the formation of the pyrochlore phase.

Low-temperature growth of ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate thin films using the magnetic field of low power 2.45GHz microwave irradiation

“…4 It is imperative to decrease the thermal processing temperature to prevent interdiffusion between the elements of the films and the substrate and to prevent the evaporation of lead and lead oxide from the surface of the films. 5,6 The sol-gel method has been widely used to achieve the low-temperature deposition of PZT films, and typical approaches include the introduction of a seed layer or a template layer, 7,8 using special substrates with perfect lattice matching to PZT, 9 the improvement in the homogeneity of the precursor solution, 10 inhibiting the crystallization of the pyrochlore phase at a low temperature by rapid annealing, 11 decreasing thickness of PZT films as thin as possible, 12 as well as laser-induced phase transformation from amorphous to perovskite in PZT films by laser annealing. 13 In recent years, a new approach to decrease the processing temperature is the heating of PZT films by microwave irradiation or microwave annealing.…”

Growth and properties of (001)-oriented Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3/LaNiO3 films on Si(001) substrates with TiN buffer layers

“…Among many types of perovskite thin films, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) is being intensively studied due to its large remnant polarization and relatively high Currie temperature. Typically, submicron films are deposited onto various oxide single crystal substrates, such as MgO [8], SrTiO 3 (STO) [9], LaAlO 3 (LAO) and yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) [10], over a wide range of deposition conditions. However, these substrates are not only expensive but also are limited to diameters less than 5 cm, and especially have unacceptably large losses.…”

Domain structure sequence in ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 thin film on MgO

“…An extension of the tetragonal phase toward the MPB was observed, 10 and different domain structures have been observed for tetragonal PZT films deposited on MgO: epitaxial PZT 52/ 48 has been deposited by different techniques including sol-gel, 11 pulsed laser deposition ͑PLD͒, 12 and sputtering. 10 For the three techniques a 100% c-domain structure has been reported with thickness ranging from 90 to 700 nm.…”