Laser annealing to produce ferroelectric-phase PbTiO3 thin films

Abstract

PbTiO3 thin films with good ferroelectric properties have been prepared by rf sputtering at relatively low temperatures of ∼350 °C and subsequent laser annealing. The annealing has been done by cw CO2 laser irradiation at 10∼40 W for 0.1∼10 sec. A distinct phase change from the paraelectric Pyrochlore phase to the ferroelectric perovskite phase is induced by means of a solid-state reaction in the irradiated region without temperature rise of peripheral regions. The observed effect increases feasibility of producing new functional electronic devices employing ferroelectric thin films such as nonvolatile memory field-effect transistors, infrared optical field-effect transistors, and imaging devices with a ferroelectric layer.