Effects of Ce, Cr and Er doping and annealing conditions on the microstructural features and electrical properties of PbZrO3 thin films prepared by sol-gel process

Abstract

Lead zirconate (PbZrO3) thin films doped with Ce, Cr and Er were grown on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) substrates by sol-gel spin coating process. Polycrystalline films with a phase-pure perovskite structure and a random orientation were obtained regardless of doping materials. Microstructural examinations of the films revealed a two-phase microstructure consisting of large rosette-type perovskite regions with a nanocrystalline phase located in between. Perovskite rosettes were found to be of polycrystalline in nature with grain size ranging between 50-250 nm. Increasing number of annealing cycles and temperature were found to improve the microstructure, crystallinity and electrical properties. Doping elements were also found to increase electrical properties with a saturation polarization (P-sat) reaching 65 x 10(-6) C/cm(2) in Ce- and Cr-doped coatings compared to 39 x 10(-6) C/cm(2) for undoped PZ films.