Influences of Seeding Layer on Physical Properties of PLZT Thin Film Grown by Sol-gel Method

Abstract

Sol-gel-processed PLZT thin films were prepared on indium tin oxide-coated glass substrate. The composition in this study was Pb0.92La0.08 Zr0.65Ti0.35O3. PLT films used as seeding layers offered nucleation sites to reduce the activation energy for the crystallization. The films were fabricated by dip coating and heat-treated at different temperatures from 600°C to 700°C. The phase and microstructure of PLZT thin films were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy technique (SEM). The PLZT thin film with PLT seeding layer improved perovskite phase content and enhanced perovskite transformation kinetics. PLZT films with dense and homogeneous microstructure were obtained. The
grain sizes of the PLZT thin film with PLT seeding layer were reduced
from 5 μm to 0.1 μm. The PLZT thin films with seeding layers showed
good ferroelectric properties such as large remanent polarization and
high dielectric constant.

Keywords: PLZT, Thin films, Sol-gel, seeding layers