Combined effect of preferential orientation and Zr/Ti atomic ratio on electrical properties of Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3 thin films

Lead zirconate titanate [Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O-3, PZT] thin films with various compositions, whose Zr/Ti ratio were varied as 40/60, 48/52, 47/53, and 60/40, were deposited on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by sol-gel method. A seeding layer was introduced between the PZT layer and the bottom electrode to control the texture of overlaid PZT thin films. A single perovskite PZT thin film with absolute (100) texture was obtained, when lead oxide was used as the seeding crystal, whereas titanium dioxide resulted in highly [111]-oriented PZT films. The dielectric and ferroelectric properties of PZT films with different preferential orientations were evaluated systemically as a function of composition. The maximums of relative dielectric constant were obtained in the morphotropic phase boundary region for both (100)- and (111)-textured PZT films. The ferroelectric properties also greatly depend on films' texture and composition. The intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to dielectric and ferroelectric properties were discussed. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.