Preparation and characterization of lead zirconate titanate thin films by liquid source misted chemical deposition

Liquid source misted chemical deposition (LSMCD) uses micron sized droplets of precursor solution to produce thin films. As with other chemical solution methods, adjusting the composition of precursor solution can easily achieve the desired composition of final film. And the small droplet size is expected to give better step coverage. In this study, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films were prepared by LSMCD and their structural and electrical properties were investigated. The films were polycrystalline and had [100] preferred orientation for films annealed at 600 degrees C. The surface morphology showed a densely packed grain structure with no rosette structure. The remanent polarization and the coercive field were 17 mu C/cm(2), and 50 kV/cm, respectively. The coercive field of this work was similar to those of other preparation methods. However, the remanent polarization was smaller than reported values. The dielectric constant and tan delta at 100 kHz were 614 and 0.058, respectively. The leakage current density at 3 V was 5.54 x 10(-7) A/cm(2). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.