Microstructure and electrical properties of Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 thick film prepared by electrostatic spray deposition

Strongly pervoskite (1 0 0)-oriented lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films were prepared by the electrostatic spray deposition (ESD). The microstructure and crystalline-granular texture of the films were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM), respectively. The films deposited at substrate temperature of 25 degreesC and 100 degreesC were found to have the same crystallite-size distribution around 150-200 nm. With given properties of the spray cloud and the precursor solution, well-crystallized PZT thick films with dense microstructure can be obtained at low deposition temperature. The relative dielectric constant of the 2 mum thick ESD-deposited PZT films with sol-gel PZT films as intermediate layers was as high as 960. The films also exhibit excellent remanent polarization and coercive fields of 12.5 muc/cm(2) and 32 kV/cm, respectively. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.