Fabrication of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 thin films utilizing unconventional powder magnetron sputtering (PMS)

Abstract Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) ferroelectric ceramic films exhibit highly superior ferroelectric, pyroelectric and piezoelectric properties which are promising for a number of applications including non-volatile random access memory devices, non-linear optics, motion and thermal sensors, tunable microwave systems and in energy harvesting (EH) use. In this research, a thin layer of PZT was deposited on two different substrates of Strontium Titanate (STO) and Strontium ruthenate (SRO) by powder magnetron sputtering (PMS) system. The preliminary powders, consisting of PbO, ZrO2 and TiO2, were manually mixed and placed into the target holder of the PMS. The deposition was performed at an elevated temperature reaching up to 600 °C via a ceramic heater. This high temperature is required for PZT thin film crystallinity, which is never achieved in conventional physical vapour deposition processes. The phase structure, crystallite size, stress-strain and surface morphology of deposited thin films were characterized using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). The composition of the PZT thin films were also analysed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The mechanical properties of the thin films were evaluated with micro-scratch adhesive strength and micro hardness equipment. FESEM results showed that the PZT thin films were successfully deposited on both SRO and STO substrates. The surfaces of the coated samples were free from cracks, relatively smooth, uniform and dense. The profile of X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of single-c-domain/single crystal perovskite phase grown on both substrates. The XPS analysis have shown that the PZT thin film grown by this method and that a target of PZT+10% PbO is a proper target for growing nominal PZT thin films. The adhesion strength and micro hardness results have confirmed the stability and durability of the thin film on the substrates, although higher values have been reported for thin film of PZT deposited on SRO surfaces.