Phase transformation kinetics induced in thin sol-gel PZT films under thermal annealing

The surface morphology evolution and phase transformation kinetics in thin lead zirconate-titanate (PZT) sol-gel films during rapid thermal annealing were studied by in situ measurement of scattered light intensity and by recording successive instantaneous optical microscope images. We also studied the variation of the texture perfection, the fraction of the growing phase, and the angular dependence of the scattered intensity in partially annealed samples. The parameters characterizing the kinetics of the pyrochlore-perovskite phase transformation were derived by a mathematical treatment of the experimental data. The phase transformation kinetics and the film crystalline texture are shown to depend substantially on the pyrolysis temperature. The texture formation mechanism is considered.