Structural and electrical characterizations of PbTiO3 thin films grown on LaNiO3-buffered Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by liquid phase deposition

Ferroelectric PbTiO3 (PTO) thin films were successfully deposited on the LaNiO3 (LNO) buffered Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by the liquid phase deposition method. The LNO layer served as both the bottom electrode and seeding layer for the PTO films. The structure, morphology, and electrical properties of the films were investigated by analytical techniques and electrical measurements. X-ray diffraction revealed that the as-deposited amorphous precursor films were decomposed and crystallized into perovskite structure after annealing at 650 degrees C. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the thin films were smooth, dense, and crack-free with a grain size of similar to 200 nm. The mechanism of liquid phase deposition for PTO is proposed. The room temperature dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the PTO films, measured at kHz are 96.8 and 0.09, respectively, for the film with 200 nm thickness as annealed at 650 S C for 1 h. The capacitor exhibits a hysteresis loop with a remanent polarization of 2.1 mu C/cm(2) and a coercive field of 33.4 kV/cm, respectively. (c) 2006 The Electrochemical Society.