Lead-zirconate-titanate thin films deposited on silicon using a novel technique at low temperature

Lead-zirconate-titanate (Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃, PZT) thin films have been successfully prepared on silicon substrates using a novel technique, which involved a combination of conventional sol-gel process and hydrothermal method, i.e., sol-gel-hydrothermal technique. PZT thin films with polycrystalline structure were obtained on silicon at a low processing temperature of 100°C-200°C. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that well-developed crystallites with pure perovskite phase appeared in the sol-gel-hydrothermal prepared PZT films. The surface morphology of the as-prepared films was dense and pinhole-free. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and spreading resistivity processing (SRP) measurements were performed to investigate the surface morphology and multilayer structure of the prepared PZT films. These results reveal that the sol-gel-hydrothermal technique, which is of great significance, low processing temperature, will become a potential and promising process for fabricating PZT and other oxide thin films.