Preparation and properties of highly (100)-oriented Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 thin film prepared by rf magnetron sputtering with a PbOx buffer layer

A method for fabrication of highly (100)-oriented Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 (PZT) thin films by rf magnetron sputtering with a special buffer of PbOx (RFMS-SBP) was developed. With this method, highly (100)-oriented Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 thin films were prepared on the PbOx∕Pt(111)∕Ti∕SiO2∕Si(100) substrates, and the preferential (100) orientation of the Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 film is 92%. The (100) orientation of the PbOx buffer layer leads to the (100) orientation of the PZT thin films, and the thickness of the buffer layer plays a significant role on the phase purity and electrical properties of the films. Highly (100)-oriented Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 thin films with proper thickness of PbOx buffer layer possess good electrical properties with larger remnant polarization Pr (69.7 μC∕cm2), lower coercive field Ec (92.4 kV/cm), and good pyroelectric coefficient at room temperature (2.6×10−8 C∕cm2 K). The butterfly-shaped e-E characteristic curve gives the evidence of the improved in-plane ferroelectric property in the films.