Synthesis and studies of local of ferroelectric properties of lead zirconate titanate thin films obtained by sol-gel technique

Morphology of the surface and local ferroelectric properties of thin lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films synthesized by the sol-gel technique are studied by scanning probe microscopy. It is shown that the surface of the films has quite low roughness of ∼2 nm and small average grain size of 20 nm. It is found that the film is polarized under impact of a positive or negative potential applied to the “probe-sample” system. The relaxation times of signals of residual ferroelectric responses are measured, and the rate of the lateral movement of the domain wall for PZT film is calculated.