Domain formation in epitaxial Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 thin films

Abstract

Ferroelectric twin-domain structures in epitaxial Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 (PZT) thin films grown on various single-crystal substrates such as MgO(001), KTaO3(001), and SrTiO3(001) were investigated by two-dimensional reciprocal space mapping using synchrotron x-ray diffraction. Each system showed a characteristic domain structure. PbTiO3 thin films grown on MgO(001) showed highly c-axis oriented domain structures consisting of a periodic array of 90° twinlike domains. Perfectly c-axis oriented films were obtained on SrTiO3(001), while the films grown on KTaO3(001) showed a-domain dominant structures with a small amount of c domains embedded in matrix a domains. Contributions of net elastic strain stored in each heteroepitaxial layer and its relaxation to the final domain structures were evaluated considering thermodynamic equilibrium relief of coherency strain by misfit dislocation generation at the film growth temperature. A comparison between theoretical consideration and experimental results clearly demonstrates that the nature of effective misfit strain and its relaxation during film growth play a critical role in the formation of domain structures in epitaxial PZT thin films. Moreover, it was verified that the control of such critical strain factors by changing film composition could modify dominant domain structures in a drastic way. In addition, it was found that the crystalline quality of the films is closely correlated to the tilting nature of the domain structure in each system and coherency strain across the 90° domain boundary is accommodated mainly by the domain tilt of the minor domain.