Preparation and electrical properties of sol-gel derived (1-x)Pb(Sc1/2Nb1/2)O-3-xPbTiO(3) (x=0.6) thin films

The films of (1-x)Pb(Sc1/2Nb1/2)O-3-xPbTiO(3) (x=0.6, PSNT(40/60)) were suc cessfully deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates via spin coating method. Us ing combination of homogeneous precursor solutions and two-step heat treatm ent, it was possible to obtain the PSNT(40/60) thin films of perfect perovs kite phase with virtually no pyrochlore phase after annealing just above 55 0 degreesC. The root-mean-square surface roughness of a 240-nm-thick film w as 3 nm as measured by atomic force microscope (AFM). The PSNT(40/60) films annealed at 650 degreesC showed a well-saturated hysteresis loop at an app lied voltage of 7 V with remnant polarization (P-r) and coercieve voltage ( V-c) of 14 muC/cm(2) and 1.5 V. The leakage current density was lower than 10(-6) A/cm(2) at an applied voltage of 7 V. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.