Microstructural and dielectric properties of high permittivity (Pb, Ba) ZrO3 thin films by sol-gel processing

High permittivity (Pb-0.7,Ba-0.3)ZrO3 (PBZ) films (60-110 nm) were fabricated by sol-gel processing on (1.11) Pt-passivated Si substrates, followed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 550-700 degrees C for 5 minutes in oxygen. The randomly oriented grains were of the crystalline perovskite phase, with minor amounts of amorphous or nanocrystalline phase in the intergranular regions. The microstructure of the PBZ films was markedly influenced by substrate annealing and RTA temperature. At 10 kHz, the low-field dielectric permittivity and loss tangent of a 66 nm PBZ film were measured to be 932 and 0.03, respectively, giving a C/A of 12.5 mu F/cm(2).