The effect of annealing on improving the quality of lead zirconate titanate thin films on Pt/SiO2/Si substrates

This paper discusses the impact of different annealing conditions on the structures of PZT thin films. At a RF power of 100 W, a substrate of 350 degrees C and an Ar flow rate of 20 seem (0.0094 m(3)/s), an amorphous PZT thin film is deposited. After annealing properly, a high quality structure and orientation-selective perovskite phase PZT thin film is constructed. When the annealing temperature is lower, the PZT thin films become a pyrochlore phase. However, when the annealing temperature is higher than 700 degrees C, the PZT thin films become a perovskite phase. With the increase of annealing temperature, the quality of the PZT thin films also becomes better. At the annealing temperature of 750 degrees C, the count proportion of (1 1 0) orientation is the highest and the FWHM of the (1 1 0) peak is the lowest. However, too high an annealing temperature leads to the over-volatilization of PbO, which lowers the quality of the PZT thin films. Furthermore; the proper annealing time to construct the PZT thin films with optimal structure is 5 min. Experimentally, at the annealing temperature of 750 degrees C and for the annealing time of 5 min, perovskite PZT thin films with good quality structure can be constructed, (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.