Influence of lead titanate seed layer on orientation behaviour and ferroelectric characteristics of sol-gel derived PZT thin films

Lead zirconate titanate (Pb(Zr_0.50Ti_0.50)O₃) thin films with a PbTiO₃ seed layer were successfully deposited on platinized silicon substrates by a modified sol-gel processing using a new zirconium source. The PbTiO₃ seed layer between the platinum bottom electrode and the PZT films could promote formation of perovskite phase and enhance the crystallinity of the PZT films due to the presence of sufficient nucleation sites. It was observed that the use of the PbTiO₃ seed layer resulted in a great improvement in the ferroelectric characteristics and much better surface morphology. The phenomenon of the different orientation behaviour in PbTiO₃ seeded and unseeded PZT films was mainly discussed. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) and atom force microscopy (AFM) techniques were selected to investigate the microstructure of the prepared PZT thin films. The ferroelectric properties of the prepared PZT thin films were measured using a modified Sawyer-Tower circuit.