Epitaxial growth of PbZr0.5Ti0.5O3 thin films on SrRuO3/SrTiO3 substrates using chemical solution deposition:: Microstructural and ferroelectric properties

Epitaxial PbZr0.5Ti0.5O3 (PZT) thin films were grown on top of a SrRuO3 epitaxial electrode layer on a (100) SrTiO3 substrate by the chemical solution deposition method at various temperatures. The microstructure of the PZT thin films was investigated by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, and the ferroelectric properties were measured using the Ag/PZT/SRO capacitor structure. In the PZT thin film annealed at low temperature (450 degreesC/1h), both the perovskite PZT phase at the film/substrate interface and the fluorite PZT phase in the upper region of the film were obtained. It exhibited nonferroelectric properties. The PZT thin film annealed at temperature as low as 525 degreesC had only a perovskite tetragonal phase and the epitaxial orientational relationship of (001)[010](PZT)parallel to (001)[010](SRO)parallel to (001)[010](STO) with the substrate, and shows a ferroelectric property. The remnant (P-r) and saturation polarization (P-s) density of the sample annealed at 600 degreesC/1h were measured to be P-r similar to 51.4 muC/cm(2) and P-s similar to 62.1 muC/cm(2) at 5 V, respectively. The net switched polarization dropped only to 98% of its initial value after 7 x 10(8) fatigue cycles.