Ferroelectric behavior in nominally relaxor lead lanthanum zirconate titanate thin films prepared by chemical solution deposition on copper foil

We demonstrate that (Pb0.9La0.1)(Zr0.65Ti0.35)(0.975)O-3 (PLZT) (10/65/35) thin films that have a nominally relaxor composition and that are deposited by chemical solution deposition onto copper foil show polarization hysteresis. Ferroelectric domain switching and a shift in Curie temperature are also observed. This is in contrast to the non-hysteretic behavior of films with identical composition prepared on Pt/SiO2/Si substrates. This suggests that the mismatch in coefficient of thermal expansion between PLZT and copper induces a compressive strain in the PLZT during cooling after high temperature crystallization under low pO(2), and causes an out-of-plane polarization. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.