O3 Thin Films Research Articles

Nanocrystallite Seeding of Metastable Ferroelectric Phase Formation in Atomic Layer-Deposited Hafnia-Zirconia Alloys.

Hafnia-based ferroelectric thin films are promising for semiconductor memory and neuromorphic computing applications. Amorphous, as-deposited, thin-film binary alloys of HfO2 and ZrO2 transform to the metastable, orthorhombic ferroelectric phase during post-deposition annealing and cooling. This transformation is generally thought to involve formation of a tetragonal precursor phase that distorts into the orthorhombic phase during cooling. In this work, we systematically study the effects of atomic layer deposition (ALD) temperature on the ferroelectricity of post-deposition-annealed Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) thin films. Seed crystallites having interplanar spacings consistent with the polar orthorhombic phase are observed by a plan-view transmission electron microscope in HZO thin films deposited at an elevated ALD temperature. After ALD under conditions that promote formation of these nanocrystallites, high-polarization (Pr > 18 μC/cm2) ferroelectric switching is observed after rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at low temperature (350 °C). These results indicate the presence of minimal non-ferroelectric phases retained in the films after RTA when the ALD process forms nanocrystalline particles that seed subsequent formation of the polar orthorhombic phase.

Magnetocaloric and Giant Magnetoresistance Effects in La-Ba-Mn-Ti-O Epitaxial Thin Films: Influence of Phase Transition and Magnetic Anisotropy.

Magnetic perovskite films have promising properties for use in energy-efficient spintronic devices and magnetic refrigeration. Here, an epitaxial ferromagnetic La0.67Ba0.33Mn0.95Ti0.05O3 (LBMTO-5) thin film was grown on SrTiO3(001) single crystal substrate by pulsed laser deposition. High-resolution X-ray diffraction proved the high crystallinity of the film with tetragonal symmetry. The magnetic, magnetocaloric and magnetoresistance properties at different directions of the applied magnetic field with respect to the ab plane of the film were investigated. An in-plane uni-axial magnetic anisotropy was evidenced. The LBMTO-5 epilayer exhibits a second-order ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition around 234 K together with a metal-semiconductor transition close to this Curie temperature (TC). The magnetic entropy variation under 5 T induction of a magnetic field applied parallel to the film surface reaches a maximum of 17.27 mJ/cm3 K. The relative cooling power is 1400 mJ/cm3 K (53% of the reference value reported for bulk Gd) for the same applied magnetic field. Giant magnetoresistance of about 82% under 5 T is obtained at a temperature close to TC. Defined as the difference between specific resistivity obtained under 5 T with the current flowing along the magnetic easy axis and the magnetic field oriented transversally to the current, parallel and perpendicular to the sample plane, respectively, the in-plane magneto-resistance anisotropy in 5 T is about 9% near the TC.

Effect of Hf concentration on energy storage performance of lead-free BaHfxTi1−xO3 thin film capacitors

Dielectric capacitors have received extensive attention on account of their ultrahigh power density. In this paper, we successfully prepared Ba (HfxTi1−x) O3 (x = 0.05, 0.11, and 0.25) thin films on the (001) Nb-doped SrTiO3 substrates through a radio-frequency magnetron sputtering, and the leakage characteristics and energy storage properties of these films were investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrates that all films are epitaxial. The leakage current decrease as x increases, which indicates that the introduction of Hf can effectively suppress the dielectric loss and enhance the breakdown strength. In the meanwhile, when x = 0.25, the maximal energy storage density with 64.0 J/cm3 and the excellent breakdown strength with 6.07 MV/cm are obtained. Likewise, the improved breakdown strength induces outstanding high temperature resistance in the wide temperature range of −100 to 200 °C, and the energy storage density and energy storage efficiency remain the value of 35.5 J/cm3 and 72.72% at 4 MV/cm in this temperature range. These results imply that Hf substitution is a feasible and operative way to improve energy storage performance of the film and provide feasibility for the future research of BaHfxTi1−xO3 series films.

Low Operating Voltage, Improved Breakdown Tolerance, and High Endurance in Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 Ferroelectric Capacitors Achieved by Thickness Scaling Down to 4 nm for Embedded Ferroelectric Memory

The comparatively high coercive field in Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) and other HfO2-based ferroelectric thin films leads to two critical challenges for their application in embedded ferroelectric memory: high operating voltage due to a large thickness-field product and poor endurance due to the high operating field close to the breakdown field. In this study, we demonstrate that the thickness scaling of ferroelectric HZO down to 4 nm is a promising approach to overcome these challenges. As the coercive voltage scales down almost linearly with the film thickness, the operating voltage of 4 nm HZO is reduced to 0.6 V for one-shot operation and 1.2 V for stable memory operation, which is in the voltage range compatible with scaled silicon technologies. Furthermore, it is found that the breakdown field is substantially improved in thinner HZO since the breakdown mechanism is dominated by the stress voltage, not the stress field, resulting in improved cycle-to-breakdown by more than 4 orders of magnitude when thinning from 9.5 to 4 nm. We identify two concerns accompanying thickness scaling: the increase in crystallization temperature and the pinched hysteresis behavior, which can be addressed by carefully preparing temperature-thickness mapping and applying strong-field wake-up cycling, respectively. Our optimal 4 nm-thick HZO ferroelectric capacitor exhibits an operating voltage of 1.2 V with over 10 year data retention and 1012 endurance cycles at 100 kHz, which can be further improved to more than 1014 with a smaller capacitor size and higher operating frequency.

Room-temperature multiferroicity and magnetoelectric couplings in (Co0.75Al0.25)2(Fe0.75Mg0.25)O4 spinel films

The electric field manipulation of a magnetic order is a key feature of advanced information technologies and the development of room-temperature multiferroic magnetoelectrics remains an important task. In this work, we report novel single-phase magnetoelectric (ME) films consisting of a (Co0.75Al0.25)2(Fe0.75Mg0.25)O4 spinel ferrite. The (Co0.75Al0.25)2(Fe0.75Mg0.25)O4 thin films display a switchable polarization and magnetization with a remnant polarization of about 2.1 µC cm–2 and a remnant magnetization of about 82.0 emu cm–3 at 300 K. Electric field control of magnetism is detected, the magnetization modulation reaches 8.5 % at room temperature with an electric field of 500 kV cm−1, revealing the existence of magnetoelectric coupling. We believe that the substitutions of Al3+ and Mg2+ cations at the spinel sublattices might induce local distortions and local electric field and modulate the superexchange interactions between magnetic ions, which give rise to the ferroelectricity and ME effect in the (Co0.75Al0.25)2(Fe0.75Mg0.25)O4 thin films. The electric field-induced charge modulation may also contribute to the observed magnetoelectric effect, which likely results from the migration and redistribution of oxygen vacancies in the prepared nanofilms. The findings of this work can stimulate research studies on the development of room temperature multiferroics and magnetoelectrics based on the spinel ferrite compounds.

Crystal Phase, Electronic Structure, and Surface Band Bending of (InxGa1–x)2O3 Alloy Wide-Band-Gap Semiconductors

Ga2O3 is emerging as a promising wide-band-gap semiconductor for high-power electronics and deep ultraviolet optoelectronics. Alloying Ga2O3 with In2O3 leads to the modulation of the band gaps and possible carrier confinement achieved at the heterointerface. In this work, we report a systematic study on the crystallographic phase, electronic structure, and surface band bending of (InxGa1–x)2O3 thin films over the whole composition range of 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 grown on α-Al2O3 (0001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. It was found that with In content x < 0.2, a monoclinic β-phase of an (InxGa1–x)2O3 film is epitaxially grown on Al2O3 (0001), while a bixbyite phase of the (InxGa1–x)2O3 film grows when x ≥ 0.8. When 0.2 ≤ x < 0.8, a mixed β-phase and bixbyite phase coexist. The evolution of electronic structures of the (InxGa1–x)2O3 films was examined by high-resolution X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and optical absorption spectroscopy. For the β-phase films, the optical band gaps decrease from 4.96 eV for Ga2O3 to 4.43 eV for x = 0.4, while for bixbyite (InxGa1–x)2O3, the optical band gaps slightly increase from 3.57 eV for In2O3 to 3.70 eV for x = 0.8. Detailed electronic structure study indicates that the decrease of band gaps of (InxGa1–x)2O3 with an increase of In content mainly results from the upper movement of the valence band edge because the shallow In 4d orbitals introduce a hybridized state with O 2p at the top of the valence band. In addition, the presence of surface electron accumulation (i.e., downward band bending) was identified at the surface region of the (InxGa1–x)2O3 films with x ≥ 0.6, which would provide an opportunity to modulate the surface electronic properties for device applications.

Synaptic behaviour in ferroelectric epitaxial rhombohedral Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin films

The discovery of ferroelectricity in HfO2-based thin films brings tremendous opportunities for emerging ferroelectric memories as well as for synaptic devices. The origin of ferroelectricity in this material is widely attributed to the presence of a polar orthorhombic phase. However, a new ferroelectric rhombohedral phase displaying large polarization with no need of pre-cycling, has more recently been reported in epitaxial Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO). In this work, the switching mechanism of the rhombohedral phase of HZO films is characterized by a two-stage process. In addition, the synaptic behaviour of this phase is presented, comparing it with previous reports on orthorhombic or non-epitaxial films. Unexpected similarities have been found between these structurally distinct systems. Even though the epitaxial films present a larger coercive field, the ration between the activation field for intrinsic polarization switching and the coercive field (F a/E c) has been found to be close to 2, in agreement with that reported for other hafnia samples. This is about 5 times smaller than in most other ferroelectrics, confirming this characteristic as a unique feature of hafnia-based ferroelectrics.

Orientation Independent Growth of Uniform Ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 Thin Films on Silicon for High‐Density 3D Memory Applications

AbstractThe highly scalable ferroelectric hafnia‐based thin films can be easily integrated into ferroelectric field‐effect transistors (FeFETs) by existing Si technology, which are regarded as one of the promising candidates for fast read/write, energy‐efficient, and high‐density nonvolatile memories. However, device‐to‐device variation in threshold voltage (VTH) caused by non‐uniformity of ferroelectric properties is a serious challenge for implementing hafnia‐based FeFETs in high‐density nonvolatile memories. Here, the substrate‐orientation independent growth of Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) thin films is realized with uniform ferroelectricity by using HfO2 seed layers. The HfO2 seed layers are beneficial to improving the ferroelectric polarization of HZO thin films grown on differently oriented Si substrates and reducing the variation in ferroelectric properties. Moreover, device simulation confirms that the proposed scheme contributes to realizing uniform memory properties in 3D vertical HZO‐based FeFETs. This study suggests the possibility to implement hafnia‐based FeFETs into 3D vertical high‐density memory.

High output performance of piezoelectric energy harvesters using epitaxial Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 thin film grown on Si substrate

For a high power density in piezoelectric energy harvesters, both a large direct piezoelectric coefficient (e31,f) and a small relative permittivity constant (εr,33) are required. This study proposed an energy harvesting device made of an epitaxial Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 (PZT) thin film grown on a Si substrate. The epitaxial PZT thin film is deposited on the Si substrate by RF magnetron sputtering. The epitaxial PZT thin film grown on Si substrate has a εr,33 constant of 318. The output voltage as a function of input displacement was measured using a shaker to evaluate the direct e31,f coefficients and energy harvester output characteristics. According to the figure of merit defined as (e31,f)2/ε0εr,33, the epitaxial PZT/Si cantilever is 32 GPa. At a resonant frequency of 373 Hz under an acceleration of 11 m/s2, the epitaxial PZT/Si cantilever has a high output power of 40.93 μW and power density of 108.3 μW/cm2/g2 without any damage, which is very promising for high power energy harvester applications.

Robust ferroelectricity enhancement of PZT thin films by a homogeneous seed layer

With its excellent ferroelectric properties such as large dielectric constant and large remanent polarization, PZT thin films are extensively used in micro-sensors and other devices. In this study, the sol–gel process was used to fabricate Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 thin films with Pb(ZrxTi1–x)O3 seed islands. The experimental consequences demonstrate that all the Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 thin films with Pb(ZrxTi1−x)O3 seeds show pure perovskite phase with no other impurity phases, and the electrical properties of Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 thin films modified by Pb(ZrxTi1–x)O3 seed islands with different Zr/Ti ratios are improved, such as remanent polarization increased, dielectric properties increased, coercive electric field decreased, leakage current density decreased. In particular, the electrical properties of the Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 thin films with Pb(ZrxTi1–x)O3 seed islands are the most optimal when the x is 0.52. This paper provides a new technique for optimizing the electrical properties of PZT thin films, which is of great significance for breaking through the bottleneck of the development of ferroelectric memory.

Optical characteristics with high accuracy of diluted Cr doped In2O3 thin films using spectroscopic ellipsometry for optoelectronic devices

Chemical reactions were used to create (In1-xCrx)2O3 powder with (x = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 at.%), and an electron beam gun was used to evaporate thin films in a high vacuum. The impacts of Cr doping concentration on the structure and optics characteristics of the In2O3 layers were investigated. All Cr-doped In2O3 films had the cubic structure of In2O3 without secondary phases according to the X-ray diffraction findings. A study of the chemical makeup of each Cr-doped In2O3 compound revealed that they were all almost stoichiometric. To extract the optical characteristics and energy gap, a three-layer model simulated the experimental data of the spectroscopic ellipsometer. With increasing the Cr doping concentration, the optical band gap shifted the blue was seen. With increasing Cr content, the band gap in the (In1-xCrx)2O3 thin film was raised from 3.21 to 3.46 eV. Using the Murmann's exact equation, the refractive index and extinction coefficient that were obtained through spectroscopic ellipsometry could be utilized to fit the measured transmission data. As a function of Cr content, the change in structural parameters was be used to explain the change in the optical parameters. The (In1-xCrx)2O3 thin film are recommended for optoelectronic devices due to its tunability in the structural and optical properties.

Control of Self-Polarization in Doped Single Crystalline Pb(Zr0.5Ti0.5)O3 Thin Films

We report the control of self-polarization of monocrystalline Lead Zirconate Titanate thin films grown by Pulsed laser deposition by doping and bottom interface. Doped and undoped films grown on ScO2 terminated surface of polar PSO substrate have developed polarization oriented toward the substrate due to negative polarity (ScO−) of the substrate termination. For films grown on the strontium ruthenate (SRO) bottom electrode, only undoped and 1% Nb doped PZT films have developed upwards oriented self-polarization. The introduction of strontium ruthenate bottom electrode have made the work function difference between films and bottom electrode to be the dominant mechanism for self-polarization.

Piezoelectric, dielectric and ferromagnetic properties in epitaxial multiferroic Pb(Zr0.45,Ti0.55)O3/Co0.8Fe2.2O4 thin film treatment by nanosecond pulsed laser deposition

Recent years have seen a considerable research interest in multiferroic materials for their potential application as sensors and actuators. However, the scarcity of these materials in a single phase and the weak coupling of their ferroic components have directed research toward multiferroic heterostructures. These systems operate by coupling the magnetic and electric properties of two materials, generally ferromagnetic and ferroelectric, via strain. In this paper, thin films have been grown by chemical solution deposition (CSD) using spin coating technique using rotations peed of 4500 rpm and time of 50 s and dried at 120○C for 20 min. The optical, dielectric, magnetic, ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, and piezoelectric properties of thin films have been investigated by Uv- Visible spectrophotometer (300-2500) nm, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) respectively. PZT/CFO thin films deposited at different temperatures from 400 °C, 500 °C and 600 °C. The as-deposited PZT/CFO show week piezoelectricity and the effective piezoelectric coefficient d33 because the materials deposited on the films not only the PZT layer but also the CFO layer, which decreases the piezoelectricity of these films. PZT/CFO Films were then recorded to enhance all physical properties (dielectric, optical, structural, surface morphology, and magnetic properties) as the sintering temperature increased. The images of a thin film before and after treatment with Nd-YAG, which have Power from 10 mw to 5300 mw, Pulse width: 7 ns pulsed laser, Repetition Rate: 10 HZ, and wavelength spectrum in (IR, Vis) laser beam indicate that sample prepared before treated has a lot of porous and agglomeration which decreases after treatment.

Aging study on BiFe0.95Mn0.05O3 ferroelectric thin films with different preferred orientations

The BiFe0.95Mn0.05O3 (BFMO) thin films were epitaxial grown on the SrRuO3/LaAlO3 (SRO/LAO) single crystal substrates with different orientations (<100 >,<110 >and<111 >) by sol-gel and layer-by-layer rapid thermal annealing methods, respectively. The test techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, high resolution field emission scanning electron microscope (HR-SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) were applied to analyze the structure of the film samples. The results showed that a two-phase coexistence structure grown in all three films with the rhombohedral R3c as the main phase and the orthogonal Pnma as the second phase. The PFM tests revealed that the <111> oriented sample had normal island domain configuration, while the <100> and <110> oriented samples mainly grew non-180° domains. By comparing the aging behavior of the three samples after a room temperature period of aging for 30 and 120 days, it was believed that the film samples with different orientations appeared distinct aging degrees due to the different number of polarized equivalent components along <111> direction and the different angle between the equivalent components and the applied electric field direction. In particular, the film sample with <111> orientation showed almost no aging. It was also believed that the defect dipole pinning happened in the ferroelectric domain bodies would play a leading role in the aging process.

Pulsed Lased Deposition of Single-Crystalline (001) Oriented Pb(Zr0.5T0.5)O3 Thin Film on PrScO3 Substrate

High quality thin films are important for domain engineering applications such as on-volatile memory applications. Single crystalline (001) oriented Pb (Zr0.5T0.5)O3 thin films have been grown by pulsed laser deposition on PrScO3 with strontium ruthenate (SRO) electrodes. Thin films were prepared from PZT ceramic targets with 15% excess PbO to compensate for lead loss at high deposition temperature. Layer by layer/step flow growth mode observed on AFM images has been realised by using a single terminated PrScO3 substrate as well as optimized deposition parameters. XRD measurements have confirmed the highly (001) oriented tetragonal symmetry. Furthermore, analysis conducted using piezoresponse force microscopy has shown that the thin films are monodomain with spontaneous ferroelectric polarization preferentially pointing upwards, i.e., away from the substrate. The absence of ferroelastic domains and the observed single ferroelectric domain structure are the results of both relatively small compressive misfit strain as well as favourable electrical boundary conditions.&#x0D; Keywords: PZT; Pulsed Laser Deposition; Epitax; Thin film

Lead free 0.9Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3–0.1BaZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin film with large piezoelectric electrostrain

A sodium bismuth titanate-based thin film is widely investigated lead-free piezoelectrics with potential applications for modern micro-devices such as PiezoMEMS. In this work, a 0.9Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3–0.1BaZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin film was deposited on a Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si (001) substrate by the sol–gel spin coating method. The deposited piezoelectric film shows low dielectric loss and high remnant polarization. The measured ferroelectricity loop showed a coercive field of 110 kV/cm and a saturation polarization of 46.83 μC/cm2. The piezoelectric response of this thin film does not decrease from room temperature to around 100 °C. The fabricated piezoelectric device with bottom and top electrodes showed a large macro-scale strain value of ∼4% under the DC (30 V) and AC voltages (f = 800 kHz, Vpp = 10 V).

Defects modify anisotropic saturation magnetization in transparent and flexible Hf0.95Co0.05O2 thin films for wearable device

A pure inorganic flexible magnetic thin film that is transparent with high temperature and light weight is crucial for high temperature flexible/wearable magnetic sensors and spintronics devices such as electronic skin and a mechanical arm. Here, a transparent flexible Hf0.95Co0.05O2 (HCO) thin film with various thicknesses of 105, 140, 175, and 210 nm was deposited on fluorophlogopite (F-Mica) substrates by using a sol-gel method. All of the flexible HCO samples show two phase structures with a monoclinic phase (M-phase) and an orthorhombic phase (O-phase), resulting in strain and strain relaxation in the samples of different thicknesses. An out-of-plane anisotropy behavior in saturation magnetization was observed in the flexible HCO samples, and the values of (Ms-out-of-plane−Ms-in-plane) decrease with the increase in the thickness. The content of Co2+ increases and the content of Co3+ and vacancy oxygen decrease when the thickness increases, which will affect the anisotropic magnetization behavior in the flexible HCO thin films. Moreover, the flexible HCO samples show excellent light transparency (above 80% in the visible range). The flexible HCO thin films with an anisotropic magnetization behavior and high transmittance are promising for various applications in transparent flexible/wearable devices.

ε-Ga2 O3 : An Emerging Wide Bandgap Piezoelectric Semiconductor for Application in Radio Frequency Resonators.

The explosion of mobile data from the internet of things (IoT) is leading to the emergence of 5G technology with dramatic frequency band expansion and efficient band allocations. Along with this, the demand for high-performance filters for 5G radio frequency (RF) front-ends keeps growing. The most popular 5G filters are constructed by piezoelectric resonators based on AlN semiconductor. However, AlN possesses a piezoelectric constant d33 lower than 5pm V-1 and it becomes necessary to develop novel semiconductors with larger piezoelectric constant. In this work, it is shown that strong piezoelectricity exists in ε-Ga2 O3 . High-quality phase-pure ε-Ga2 O3 thin films with a relatively low residual stress are prepared. A switching spectroscopy piezoelectric force microscope (SS-PFM) measurement is carried out and the piezoelectric constant d33 of ε-Ga2 O3 is determined to be ≈10.8-11.2pm V-1 , which is twice as large as that of AlN. For the first time, surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators are demonstrated on the ε-Ga2 O3 thin films and different vibration modes resonating in the GHz range are observed. The results suggest that ε-Ga2 O3 is a great material candidate for application in piezoelectric devices, thanks to its wide bandgap, strong piezoelectric property, small acoustic impedance, and low residual stress.

Room temperature tunability of ferroelectricity and dielectricity in La and Mn codoped BiFeO3 nanoflakes: Implications for electronic devices applications

This study sheds a light on the in-situ growth of nanoflakes structure in Bi0.9La0.1Fe0.5Mn0.5O3 (BLFMO) thin film. The BLFMO thin films of various thicknesses were grown on LaNiO3 (LNO) coated Si (100) substrates using pulsed laser deposition technique. A long-range crystal structure of the as prepared BLFMO thin films was studied by X-ray diffraction measurements, which shows that the LNO buffer layer allows growth for a specific orientation. The compact and densely packed nanoflake structures in BLFMO thin film samples were confirmed by surface morphological investigations. To measure the polarization versus electric field (p-E) loop of BLFMO chip samples, a standard bipolar sinusoidal waveform with its magnitude of 250 kV/cm was applied at the frequency of 1 kHz. The maximum saturation and remnant polarizations of 104.50 μC/cm2 and 86.24 μC/cm2 respectively were probed for a critical thickness (420 nm) of the BLFMO layer. The voltage polarity-dependent leakage current behavior of Ag/BLFMO/LNO thin-film capacitor is thoroughly explored in detail. The value of leakage current density was observed from 1.16 × 10−4 to 2.24 × 10−5 J/cm2 for BLFMO thin films at an external applied electric field of 300 kV/cm. The highest tunability ∼60.20% and minimum temperature capacitance coefficient ∼1.23 × 10−3 were also observed for the same critical thickness of proposed chip element. The present study may open up a new opportunity to fabricate thin film based ferroelectric memory devices.

Comparative studies of relaxor-ferroelectric Pb0.92La0.08(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition and sol-gel spin coating

In this study, the energy storage properties of relaxor Pb0.92La0.08(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PLZT) thin films grown on Pt/Si substrates using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and sol-gel methods were investigated. The PLZT thin films deposited by PLD possessed a columnar growth microstructure and mixed orientations of (100) and (110) while a dense microstructure and preferred orientation of (100) were achieved by sol-gel deposition. Although the electric breakdown strength (EBD) of the sol-gel-deposited PLZT thin films (EBD=2200 kV/cm) was slightly higher than that of the films deposited using PLD (EBD=2100 kV/cm), the PLD-deposited PLZT thin films had a larger recoverable energy storage density (Ureco) and energy storage efficiency (η), which can be explained by its slimmer polarization loop, higher maximum polarization, and lower remanent polarization. At corresponding EBD values, the Ureco and η values were 33.2 J/cm3 and 67.5% for the PLD-deposited films and 27.5 J/cm3 and 62.2% for the sol-gel-deposited films. Although the sol-gel-deposited PLZT thin films had lower energy storage performance, the sol-gel method remains a promising method for the fabrication of thin films for dielectric energy storage applications due to its unique advantages of low fabrication cost, simple preparation process, and easy control of chemical composition.