The Domain Structure and Pyroelectric Properties of (111) Preferred Oriented PLT Thin Films Prepared By RF Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

The Pb <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.9</sub> La <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.1</sub> Ti <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.975</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> (PLT10) thin films were grown on Pt/Ti/SiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> /Si(100) substrates by using RF magnetron sputtering. The crystalline and domain properties of PLT 10 thin films were studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). It was found that the head-to-tail polarization configurations exist constantly in PLT thin films, indicating that the low electrical energy configurations are quite common in PLT thin films. Nanoscale banded 90deg a-a domain patterns as small as 30 to 60 nm in width were clearly visualized in the PLT thin films. The banded domain alternated in adjacent lamellae which are a result of mechanical strains at the surface and the interface between the substrate and the PLT thin films is more stable. The PLT films have relatively large pyroelectric coefficient gamma=2.20times10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-8</sup> Cldr(cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> ldrK) <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> and relatively high figures of merit. Hence PLT10 thin films could be applied widely in IR detectors or uncooled focus plane arrays.