Preparation and Characterization of Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 Powders and Thin Films by a Sol-gel Route

Abstract

Lead zirconate titanate [Pb(ZrxTi1−x)O3 (PZT)] powders and ferroelectric thin films with a composition near the morphotropic phase boundary [Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3] were prepared by a modified sol-gel process using zirconium oxynitrate-2-hydrate as the zirconium source and ethylene glycol as solvent. The precursor solution was prepared from lead acetate-3-hydrate, tetrabutyl titanate, and zirconium oxynitrate-2-hydrate. Perovskite PZT powders were obtained after sintering at 450 °C for 2 h. Films rapid-thermally annealed at 650 °C for 1 min formed well-crystallized perovskite.Microstructures of these films indicated the presence of nano-sized grains (∼50 nm). The remnant polarization was 28.5 μC/cm2, and the coercive field was 39.8 kV/cm. Ferroelectric polarization fatigue test of In/PZT/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si showed a high fatigue resistance up to 3 × 1010 cycles before Pr decreased by 50%.