Structural development in the early stages of annealing of sol-gel prepared lead zirconate titanate thin films

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films on platinized silicon were fabrica ted and their structural development upon annealing was characterized by x- ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The amount of a transient intermetallic phase Pt3Pb was found initially to increase with a nnealing time and to decay after reaching a maximum. The kinetic process of growth and decay was simulated by using the Avrami equation. The Avrami co efficient n and growth rate constant k were determined by comparing the exp erimental results and the simulated curves, from which activation energies of 40 and 145 kJ/mol were obtained for the growth and decay of the intermet allic Pt3Pb phase, respectively. The perovskite PZT was found by using TEM to nucleate epitaxially on top of the Pt3Pb phase. Evidence is presented th at the Pt3Pb phase plays a major role in determining the crystallite's orie ntation at the nucleation stage of the perovskite PZT. This depends strongl y on the annealing temperature and the orientation changes little during th e following growth process. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021- 8979(99)10115-4].