Orientation control of low temperature deposited sol-gel PZT52/48 films

The effects of varying pyrolysis temperature on sol-gel PZT52/48 thin films on final film orientation and its reproducibility are reported in this paper. Optimization trials producing (100) orientated PZT found that film orientation can be selected by varying the pyrolysis temperature prior to perovskite crystallization at 540°C on a hotplate in air. Increasing the lead excess for sols from 10% to 20% was found to be essential to prevent the formation of stable, lead-deficient pyrochlore and to encourage the growth of (001) orientation. Three distinct temperature regimes were observed from pyrolysis trials: mixed orientations at temperatures less than 300°C, a predominantly (100) region between 300°C-350°C and (111) at 400°C, which was consistent between different PZT52/48 sols.