Electrical properties and microstructure of lead zirconate titanate thin film in situ grown by hybrid processing:: Sol-gel method and pulsed laser deposition

Highly oriented Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O-3 (PZT) thin films were in situ grown on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by a hybrid process combining the sol-gel method and pulsed-laser deposition (PLD). Crystalline phases and preferred orientation of the PZT films were investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis. Surface morphology and microstructure were observed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. Electrical properties of the films were evaluated by measuring their P-E hysteresis loops and dielectric constants. The preferred orientation of the films deposited by hybrid processing can be controlled using the layer deposited by the sol-gel method. The deposition temperature required to obtain the perovskite phase in hybrid processing is 460degreesC, and is significantly lower than that in the case of direct film deposition by PLD on a Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate. The dielectric constant and remanent polarization of the films in situ deposited at 460degreesC were approximately 900 and 15muC/cm(2), respectively.