Investigation into the cause of the exfoliation of ferroelectric PZT films from the substrate by auger electron spectroscopy

Abstract

It is shown that film exfoliation in a PZT(400 nm)/Ir(50 nm)/TiO2(10 nm)/Ti(10 nm)/SiO2/Si system upon annealing in air at 650°C for 20 min occurs at the PZT/Ir interface along a thin intermediate oxide layer (Pb, Ir)O x containing a significant amount of lead as compared to PZT. This layer is not continuous and exists below the PZT film at sites where the flaking does not occur. The thickness of the intermediate layer estimated by the time of ion sputtering is about 20 nm. This value and the layer composition do not change with increasing annealing time.