Effect of excess-PB and prenucleation layer on properties of Pb(Zr_yTi_1-y)O₃ thin films prepared by mod process

Abstract

A modified metal-organic decomposition process, MOD has been successfully utilized to improve the ferroelectric properties of Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃, PZT, thin films. Multilayer PZT/Pt(Si) films, which contain 0.12 μm layer of spin coated PbO-excess (10 mol%) precursors on top of 0.12 μm layer of stoichiometric PZT precursors, exhibit superior ferroelectric properties (P_r=14.2 μC/cm²; E_c=62 kV/cm) to the single layer PZT/Pt(Si) films of the same thickness (0.24 μm), which are either stoichiometric or 10 mol% Pb-enriched. The ferroelectric properties are further improved when the PZT films were synthesized using a thin pulsed laser deposited (PLD) prenucleation layer (0.06 μm). The subsequently MOD-prepared PZT films posses high remanent polarization (P_r=23.2–26.6 μC/cm²) and low coercive field (E_c=62.9–69.0 kV/cm).

Key Words:

• PZT
• prenucleation
• MOD