In the sol-gel processing of the ferroelectric thin films of PbZrxTi1-xO3 (
PZT), solution precursor characteristics have long been considered as facto
rs which affect thin film microstructure. In this study, the structures of
PZT precursor sols before and after hydrolysis were characterised by using
NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), PCS (photon correlation spectroscopy), an
d SAXS (small angle X-ray scattering) techniques as well as the measurement
of the rheological properties of the PZT precursor solutions. The measurem
ents discovered that alkoxy ligands which were bonded to metals were comple
tely replaced by acetate ligands in the unhydrolysed sols. The particles in
our PZT sols are chain-like and their average size increases linearly afte
r hydrolysis on a logarithmic scale due to the hydrolysis and condensation
reactions. To examine the relationship between the film orientation and the
particle size in the precursor sols, the films were fabricated with differ
ent particle sizes and then annealed at 480 degrees C. The preferred orient
ations were investigated using X-ray diffraction. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science
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