Synthesis by aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition and microstructural characterization of PbTiO3 thin films

Thin films of PbTiO3 were deposited onto (001) silicon single-crystal substrates by aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition method at different temperatures, using organometallic precursors. With the objective of stabilizing and homogenizing the perovskite phase, the films were annealed at 800 degrees C, in a Pb-rich atmosphere, for 4 and 6 h. The evolution of compositions and microstructure of the films was characterized before and after annealing, by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, two-dimensional detection of grazing incidence diffraction with synchrotron radiation, scanning electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction results showed that the crystalline structure of optimized PbTiO3 films corresponded to a tetragonal perovskite-type, with lattice parameters a=0.387(4) nmand c=0.406(4) nm. In addition, the inverse pole figure of the fiber texture representation, had a Gaussian (1, 1, 0) component and distribution width Omega=15 degrees. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.