Low temperature synthesis and electrical properties of PbTiO3 thin films prepared by the polymeric precursor method

Ferroelectric PbTiO3 thin films were successfully prepared on a Pt(111)Ti/S iO2/Si(100) substrate for the first time by spin coating, using the polymer ic precursor method. X-ray diffraction patterns of the films indicate that they are polycrystalline in nature. This method allows low temperature (500 degrees C) synthesis and high electrical properties. The multilayer PbTiO3 thin films were granular in structure with a grain size of approximately 1 10-120 nm. A 380-nm-thick film was obtained by carrying out four cycles of the spin-coating/heating process. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and at omic force microscopy (AFM) analyses showed the surface of these thin films to be smooth, dense and crack-free with low surface roughness (=3.4 nm). A t room temperature and at a frequency of 100 kHz, the dielectric constant a nd the dissipation factor were, respectively, 570 and 0.016. The C-V charac teristics of perovskite thin film prepared at low temperature show normal f errolectric behavior. The remanent polarization and coercive field for the films deposited were 13.62 mu C/cm(2) and 121.43 kV/cm, respectively. The h igh electrical property values are attributed to the excellent microstrutur al quality and chemical homogeneity of thin films obtained by the polymeric precursor method. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.