Crystallization of sol-gel processed PZT films with low temperatures and short times using UV-Assisted rapid thermal annealing

Abstract

Excimer UV-assisted rapid thermal annealing (UV-RTA) was employed to obtain the perovskite crystalline phase of Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47) O3 (PZT) films processed from three different sols. Sol-I contained 2-methoxyethanol as the solvent and Pb-acetate, Zr-acetylacetonate, Ti-isopropoxide were the precursors for Pb, Zr, and Ti respectively. Sol-II contained acetic acid as the solvent and the corresponding precursors were Pb-acetate, Zr-propoxide and Ti-isopropoxide. Sol-III contained 1,3-propanediol as the solvent and the respective precursors were Pb-acetate, Zr-acetylacetonate, and Ti-diisopropoxide bis-acetylacetonate. It was observed that sol-III was the most sensitive to UV (222 nm) exposure at an intensity of -40 mW/cm2 and resulted single phase perovskite PZT films at an annealing temperature of 500°C by employing UV-RTA in compare to that of 550'C or more required for obtaining single phase perovskite films using the sol-I and II even under UV-irradiation. Moreover, the films obtained from the sol-III have good ferroelectric properties with a Pr value of -20 μC/cm2 along with Ec of 38 kV/cm. The probable dissociation chemistry has been discussed based on the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis.