Abstract
The microstructures of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films prepared by a sol-gel technique was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and transmission electron diffraction. We investigated the microstructure of three sets of thin films with different chemical compositions: PZT 53/47 films with no excess PbO; with excess PbO; and PZT 65/35 with no excess PbO. All samples were fired for 30 minutes at temperatures ranging from 400C to 700C. Incorporation of excess PbO in the 53/47 film fired at 450C resulted in polycrystalline perovskite grains with an average grain size of less than 0.1 μm. Grain boundaries are decorated by 5-10 nm diameter precipitates possibly caused by the segregation of remnant pyrochlore or excess PbO. The films have high values of dielectric constant (up to 2500) when fired at 700C. PZT 65/35 fired at 700C consists of two distinct phases: a fine-grained matrix of pyrochlore, and 10-μm diameter rosettes of perovskite. The correlations between the compositions, the microstructures of the films, and their processing conditions on the one hand, and ferroelectric properties on the others are discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 369-374 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Materials Research Society Symposium - Proceedings |
| Volume | 310 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1993 |
| Event | Proceedings of the 1993 Spring Meeting of the Materials Research Society - San Francisco, CA, USA Duration: Apr 14 1993 → Apr 16 1993 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Science(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering