Physical and dielectric properties of sol-gel derived ZnO-doped Zr0.8Sn0.2TiO4 dielectric thin films

Electrical properties, optical properties and microstructures of 1 wt% ZnO-doped (Zr0.8Sn0.2)TiO4 thin films prepared by the sol-gel method on ITO substrates at different heat-treatment temperatures have been investigated. All films exhibited ZST (111) and (101) orientations perpendicular to the substrate surface and the grain size increased with increasing heat-treatment temperature. Optical transmittance spectroscopy further revealed high transparency (over 80%) in the visible region of the spectrum. At a heat-treatment temperature level of 250 degrees C, the ZnO-doped (Zr0.8Sn0.2)TiO4 films were found to possess a dielectric constant of 18 (at 1 MHz), a dissipation factor of 0.24 (at 1 MHz) and a leakage current density of 8.7 x 10(-9) A/cm(2) at an electrical field of 50 V/cm. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.