Preparation Of PZT Ferroelectric Thin Films By Sol-Gel Processing

In the paper,the sol-gel processing is utilized to fabricate the PZT(50/50) ferroelectric thin films onα- Al₂O₃ substrates using inorganic salt zirconium nitrate,lead-acetate hydrate and metallo-organic salt tetra-n-butyl titanate as raw materials by spin-coated method.The amount of water added, selution pH value,the selection and amount of solvents added are analyzed, which have an effect on the preparation of stable sol.The influence of different catalysts and additives is investigated that can improve the quality of thin films.The most favorable technological conditions for the preparation of PZT thin films are obtained.Besides,due to using a zirconium nitrate instead of Zr alkoxide,it results in the enhancement of the crystallization temperature of thin films,and intermediate layer adopted PbTiO₃(PT)thin films can improve the crystallization.The morphology,and phase structure evolution of PZT thin films annealed at different temperatures and for different time are analyzed by using XRD and SEM techniques.It is shown that the PZT perovskite structure in films may transform from pyrochlore phase,and the regular laws of change of gains during the course of the crystallized are observed.The relationship of processing—structure Shows that using appropriate catalysts and additives can obtain dense PZT thin films with crack-free and porous-free microstructure,the intermediate layer PT can improve the crvstallization and reduce the calcining temperature,the annealing temperature dominates the grain sizes and the annealing time has peat effects on the formation of crystallization of the thin films.