Growth and ferroelectric properties of sol-gel derived Pb(Zr,Ti)O-3 using inorganic zirconium precursor

Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O-3 (PZT) thin films were prepared by sol-gel methods using zirconium nitrate hydrate as the starting zirconium precursor. X-ray diffr action (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and electrical measurement were used to characterize PZT thin films. The effect of various heat treatment processing of rapid thermal anneal (RTA) and conventional thermal anneal (C FA) on structure and ferroelectric properties of PZT thin films has been in vestigated. RTA-annealed PZT films show better structure and electrical pro perties than CFA-annealed ones. The RTA-treated PZT thin films at 650 degre esC show a remanent polarization of 19.7 muC/cm(2) and coercive field of 18 .4 kV/cm, and exhibit high fatigue resistance against 4 x 10(9) switching c ycles. all of which can match PZT thin films obtained using zirconium alkox ide. Meanwhile, the use of inorganic zirconium salt greatly increases the s helf life of the precursor solution. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.