Influence of lead titanate seed layer on orientation behaviour and ferroelectric characteristics of sol-gel derived PZT thin films

Lead zirconate titanate (Pb(Zr0.50Ti0.50)O-3) thin films with a PbTiO3 seed layer were successfully deposited on platinized silicon substrates by a mo dified set-gel processing using a new zirconium source. The PbTiO3 seed lay er between the platinum bottom electrode and the PZT films could promote fo rmation of perovskite phase and enhance the crystallinity of the PZT films due to the presence of sufficient nucleation sites. It was observed mat the use of the PbTiO3 seed layer resulted in a great improvement in the ferroe lectric characteristics and much better surface morphology. The phenomenon of the different orientation behaviour in PbTiO3 seeded and unseeded PZT fi lms was mainly discussed. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) and atom force micros copy (AFM) techniques were selected to investigate the microstructure of th e prepared PZT thin films. The ferroelectric properties of the prepared PZT thin films were measured using a modified Sawyer-Tower circuit.