Processing, structure, and property of ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films

Abstract

Epitaxial ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films were grown on La2/3Sr1/3MnO3/LaAlO3 (LSMO/LAO) substrates by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD). The crystal structure, morphology, dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of these films were investigated. Our epitaxial PZT films grown on the epitaxial LSMO bottom electrode showed a high remnant polarization (45 I?C/cm2), a low coerce field (60 kV/cm) and a high piezoelectric coefficient d33 (110 pC/N). Ferroelectric fatigue testing for the epitaxial PZT films was also conducted at different frequencies and amplitudes of the applied electric signal. The PZT film with an increased thickness (1.3 I?m) exhibited a fatigue-free behavior up to 1010 cycles in all the tests. In addition, we also attempted to develop an ion beam etching process for the PZT thin films in order to explore their device applications using ion beam etching. An etch rate over 40 ??/min was obtained.