The grain size effect of Pb(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O-3 thin films

The grain size strongly influences the fatigue properties of Pb(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O-3 (PZT) thin films with platinum (Pt) electrodes. A film with smaller grain size has better fatigue properties. It was assumed that fatigue is mainly due to the pinning of domain walls by space charge or charged point defects near Pt electrodes. Therefore, the film with a lower fraction of the grains touching Pt electrodes has better fatigue properties. The permittivity of the thin film decreases with the decrease in grain size. This may be due to the decrease of mobility of domain walls with the decrease of grain size. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.