Annealing treatment of pulsed laser ablated Pb-(Mg, Nb)-Ti-O thin films

Abstract

Laser ablated thin films of thickness 1 to 2 pm with a nominal composition 0.9 Pb₃(MgNb2)O₉-0.1 PbTiO₃ were prepared on the r-plane of single crystal sapphire substrates, which were not heated during ablation. As-deposited films were amorphous. The perovskite phase started to crystallize at 350 °C so that the films composed of perovskite with a small amount of pyrochlore after 6 hours annealing at 400 °C. The fraction of pyrochlore increased with rising temperature and attained 100% at 900 °C. This effect was favoured by the evaporation of lead on surface.