Effect of lead acetate concentration on the droplet size in liquid source misled chemical deposition

The needs for high quality, multi-component thin film are ever increasing with the progress of semiconductor technology. Liquid source misted chemical deposition (LSMCD) is a promising method for thin him preparation. However, the details of the characteristics of the droplets before depositing on the substrate have not been clearly understood. In this study, the effect of the solute on the droplet. size was investigated with lead acetate, which is common starting material for the preparation of thin films of PbTiO3, Pb(Zr, Ti)O-3, (Pb, La)(Zr, Ti)O-3 by sol-gel method. All of the produced droplets had size less than 10 mu m. The mean diameter decreased with solution concentration, which is caused by the changes of the physical properties such as surface tension and density. Power law relationship was held between mean diameter and the ratio of surface tension and density. The exponent was 0.33 and 0.66 for 2-methoxyethanol and methanol, respectively. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.