Effect of Annealing on the Properties of Spin Coated Lead Zirconium Titanate Thinfilms

Abstract

Lead zirconium titanate thinfilms have been prepared by the cost effective spin coating method on glass and stainless steel substrate with the following optimized coating parameters, (1) Coating period of the sol - 4th to 5th day, (2) Spin rate – 2500 rpm, (3) Spin time – 10 Sec, (4) Number of coating – 8, (5) Heat treatment temperature - 450 °C and (6) Heat treatment duration – 8 Sec. The developed PZT thinfilms are annealed between the temperature 200 oC and 1000 oC. The XRD profile of all the PZT thinfilms annealed at different temperatures confirm polycrystalline perovskite structure with preferred orientation along (110) plane. The thermal conductivity measurement of the PZT thinfilm samples annealed at different temperatures illustrates a non linear decline with the increase in annealing temperature. The sheet resistance and resistivity measurement of the PZT specimen show a maximum value of 15.6 MΩ/ and 13.7 x 10-6 Ω-cm, for the PZT thinfilm annealed at the temperature 1000 oC. Hardness of the PZT thinfilms annealed at different temperatures is measured in the Vickers scale. A maximum hardness of 740 VHN and a minimum hardness of 220 VHN is observed for the PZT thinfilm annealed at the temperature 1000 °C and 300 °C respectively. The 2D and 3D AFM micrograph of the PZT thinfilm annealed at 1000 °C illustrates fine grain growth, smooth and uniform surface pattern with large number of grain boundaries.