Preparation of Epitaxial Pb(Zr, Ti)O<sub>3</sub> Thin Films on MgO (100) Substrates by Dipping-Pyrolysis Process

Abstract

Epitaxially grown PZT films with crack- and void-free smooth surfaces were successfully prepared on MgO (100) by DP process using a constituent metal naphthenate solution. Epitaxial PZT was considered to crystallize directly from the amorphous precursor, not via pyrochlore, and the orientation relationship between PZT films and MgO substrates was: PZT (100)//MgO (100) and PZT [001]//MgO [010], [001].Epitaxy and surface morphology of the films were found to depend chiefly on their crystallinity. The crystallinity and epitaxy of the films increased with increasing final heat treatment temperature in the range 650-750°C. However, optimum surface morphology, i.e., a smooth and homogeneous texture, was obtained at lower crystallinity, for example, with a film pyrolyzed at 500°C and finally heat-treated at 650°C. On the other hand, low-temperature prefiring lowered the crystallinity of the product films if the final heat treatment temperature was the same. Namely, a film prefired at 200°C and finally heat-treated at 750°C showed similar crystallinity and morphology with the above 500°C-pyrolyzed and 650°C-annealed film.