Hydrothermal synthesis of heteroepitaxial Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O-3 thin films at 90-150 degrees C

Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O-3 and PbZrO3 heteroepitaxial thin films were produced in an aqueous solution (10 M KOH) at ambient pressure and low temperatures (90-150 degrees C) on (001) SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 single crystal substrates. Growth of the Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O-3 and PbZrO3 thin films initiates by the formation of {100} faceted islands. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis of the Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O-3 thin film shows that the Zr:Ti ratio is 45:56, nearly identical to the molar ratio of the precursors. This route might provide a viable low temperature alternative for the formation of high dielectric constant thin films for applications such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM).