Dielectric properties of lead zirconate titanate thin films deposited on metal foils

Ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films deposited on metal foil substrates are suitable for developing a wide range of applications. In this letter, we report on PZT films deposited on a variety of foils, including titanium, stainless steel, brass, and nickel alloys, using sol-gel processing. The dielectric properties were shown to depend strongly on the foil material. Excellent properties for capacitors, including high dielectric constant (epsilon = 400), low dielectric loss (loss tangent of < 5%), and low leakage current (below 5 x 10(-8) A at 5 V) were obtained on titanium and good results were also obtained on other foils, such as stainless steel and brass foils. Also, excellent high-frequency properties were observed for capacitors on titanium, stainless steel, and brass foils. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)04033-X].