Preferential grain growth and improved fatigue endurance in Sr substituted PZT thin films on Pt(111)/TiOx/SiO2/Si substrates

Pb(Zr0.5Ti0.5)O-3 and (Pb0.9Sr0.1)(Zr0.5Ti0.5)O-3 thin films were grown on Pt/TiOx/SiO2/Si substrates by chemical solution deposition. 10% Sr substituted PZT film showed high degree of (001) type preferential grain growth. Surface morphology revealed a clear correlation between preferred grain orientation and grain size. Room temperature dielectric constant was 1200 and 700 for the PZT and PSZT films, respectively. Dielectric loss reduced with Sr substitution. PZT film showed severe fatigue, and hence the polarization reduced to 20% of the initial value (24 mu C/cm(2)) after 10(8) cycles where as PSZT showed less fatigue, 75% of the initial polarization (12 mu C/cm(2)) was retained after 10(8) switching cycles. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.