Low temperature synthesis and electrical properties of PbTiO 3 thin films prepared by the polymeric precursor method

Abstract

Ferroelectric PbTiO 3 thin films were successfully prepared on a Pt(111)/Ti/SiO 2/Si(100) substrate for the first time by spin coating, using the polymeric precursor method. X-ray diffraction patterns of the films indicate that they are polycrystalline in nature. This method allows low temperature (500°C) synthesis and high electrical properties. The multilayer PbTiO 3 thin films were granular in structure with a grain size of approximately 110–120 nm. A 380-nm-thick film was obtained by carrying out four cycles of the spin-coating/heating process. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses showed the surface of these thin films to be smooth, dense and crack-free with low surface roughness (=3.4 nm). At room temperature and at a frequency of 100 kHz, the dielectric constant and the dissipation factor were, respectively, 570 and 0.016. The C– V characteristics of perovskite thin film prepared at low temperature show normal ferrolectric behavior. The remanent polarization and coercive field for the films deposited were 13.62 μC/cm 2 and 121.43 kV/cm, respectively. The high electrical property values are attributed to the excellent microstrutural quality and chemical homogeneity of thin films obtained by the polymeric precursor method.