The effect of various electrodes on the ferroelectric properties of lead-zirconate-titanate (Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 PZT) films through the film structure is presented. All the PZT films were deposited by pulsed laser ablation (PLA) using an ArF excimer laser. For electrode materials, YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) and Ni-alloy were deposited by pulsed laser ablation and sputtering, respectively. As a result various kinds of PZT films with various film structures were obtained. These experiments revealed that there is no simple correlation between the film structure and the fatigue resistance. The fatigue resistance is, however, found to be improved primarily by decreasing the switched-charge density, although the correlation shows some ambiguity. This suggests that the large polarization reversal accelerates the fatigue but there remained the possibility that the fatigue resistance is improved by the optimization of the film structure and film-substrate interface.

Strontium barium niobate Sr0.55Ba0.45Nb2O6 thin films were prepared on Si (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The film composition was determined as a function of the fluence φ and wavelength λ of the laser beam, the oxygen ambient pressure Po2 and the substrate temperature Ts. The results show that the film composition is very close to that of the target, and is almost independent of φ from 1 to 8 J cm−2, λ = 355, 532 and 1064 nm, Po2 from 0 to 150 mTorr, and Ts from 25 to 700°C. These results suggest that PLD is excellent for preparing SBN films with compositions congruent to that of the target. The x-ray diffraction data show that all the samples deposited at room temperature are amorphous. The x-ray diffraction results also indicate that the samples deposited at 700°C have a tungsten-bronze-(TB-) type structure with preferred crystallite orientation, while the room-temperature-deposited samples after annealing at 800°C for 30 minutes are polycrystalline and have random crystallite orientation.

Stoichiometric films of Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) were successfully deposited on Si-on-Insulator (SOI) substrates, with and without a platinum electrode, by an ArF (λ=193nm) pulsed excimer laser. Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was used to transform amorphous or pyrochlore phase into ferroelectric perovskite phase. The film structure, composition, morphology, interface and electrical properties were studied by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) and Sawyer-Tower circuit, respectively. It was found that there was a narrow operational window of annealing time for PZT films at fixed annealing temperature. Pure ferroelectric perovskite phase with mainly (100) and (110) orientations could be obtained in PZT films on Pt coated SOI substrates. The interfaces between the PZT films and both Si and Pt//Si were very abrupt, indicating there was no interdiffusion between them. Ferroelectric hysteresis loops showed a remanent polarization of 15μC/cm2 and a coercive field of 50KV/cm.

Ferroelectric Pb1−xLaxTi1−x/4(x = 0 ∼ 0.28) epitaxial thin films were prepared on MgO(001), SrTiO3(001), and LaAlO3(001) single crystalline substrates using pulsed laser deposition. The change in lattice constants of PLT films by La concentration, x, was investigated systematically for each substrate. RBS studies revealed that the composition of PLT films is consistent with that of the targets. Lattice constants, degree of c-axis orientation, crystal quality of the PLT films were characterized by symmetric and asymmetric X-ray scans. The strain which occurred during the cubic to tetragonal phase transition seemed to be the major factor determining the c-axis orientation configuration, i.e., 90° domain structure and the crystal quality of PLT films.

Pulsed laser deposition was used to grow epitaxial LiNbO3 films on sapphire(0001) substrates with a single crystal LiNbO3 target. Using deposition temperatures below 450 °C, LiNbO3 films with correct stoichiometry could be grown without using Li-rich targets. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry measurements showed that the oxygen to niobium ratio is 3.00 ± 0.15 to 1.00. It was also found that the crystallographic orientations of the LiNbO3 films could be controlled by adjusting the oxygen pressure during deposition. An x-ray pole figure shows that epitaxial LiNbO3 films were grown on sapphire(0001), but with twin boundaries.

Pulsed laser ablation was used to deposit Nd-doped lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films with a thickness of from 100 to 800 nm from a Pb0.97 Nd0.02(Zr0.55Ti0.45)O3 target. The films were ablated onto sapphire and MgO substrates using a XeCl excimer laser (pulse energy 50 mJ, wavelength 308 nm, pulse duration 20 ns). The distance between the target and the substrates was 40 mm, and the angle between the target normal and the incident beam was 45 °. The films were post-annealed in air at various temperatures (600 – 900 °C) with PZT powder. It was found that the laser beam energy density on the surface of the target had a significant effect on the composition of the films, the number of particulates on the surface of the films and the growth rates of the films. Lead deficiency was found in the films in the case of high fluence (> 1.5 J/cm2) while low fluence values (< 1.0 J/cm2) gave an excess of lead and too low Zr/(Zr+Ti) ratios. The particulate number density was low for fluence values between 0.5 and 1.5 J/cm2. EDS and X-ray diffraction was used to determine the composition and the crystal structure of the annealed films. The films deposited using a low fluence showed increasing tetragonal c/a-ratio with increasing post-annealing temperatures. Raman spectra measured from annealed films were found to be typical of PZT.

The epitaxial growth of para- and ferroelectric KTa1−xNbxO3 (KTN) thin films was achieved in an in-house built liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) apparatus. Films were grown from a KF/NaF/KTN solution on KTaO3 substrates. Growth rates of several μ/min were achieved at a growth temperature of 1200 K. Up to 150 μm thick, smooth KTN films with different compositions were grown and characterized. Almost perfect lattice matching was achieved by the addition of NaF to the KF flux. Partial replacement of K by Na did not result in a significant change of physical properties of KTN.

The investigation of the dielectric properties revealed a sharp change of the dielectric constant at the ferroelectric phase transition. The ferroelectric domain structure was modified by poling at 1kV/cm. Pyroelectric studies yielded a pyroelectric coefficient of up to 5.2 mC/m2K while the frequency dependence of the pyroelectric response showed a maximum at 230 Hz.

The effects of film thickness, oxygen partial pressure, electrode type, substrate temperature, and position on the room temperature and 77 K dielectric properties of SrTiO3 (ST) films were studied. The film composition and properties vary with radial position and oxygen partial pressure. A maximum in dielectric constant occurs near the same position where stoichiometric films are obtained. The room temperature and 77K dielectric constants increase with increasing thickness, while the capacitance density decreases. Capacitance densities as high as 4 fF/μm2 were observed for films deposited at low temperature and subsequently crystallized. Elevated temperature deposition, however, results in better properties than room temperature deposition followed by annealing. Dielectric constants as high as 200 with capacitance densities up to 9 fF/μ2 were observed. For optimized deposition conditions, no dielectric break-down of the capacitors was observed at 20V after 111 days of testing. The properties of capacitors with n+Si bottom electrodes were not as good as those with Ti/Pt electrodes, however, integration with Si integrated circuit processing is expected to be much simpler.

Polycrystalline Sn2P2S6 films were prepared by “hot wall” method and studied for possible electronic application. This paper deals with the determination of correlation between the preferred crystallite orientation of the film and its piezoelectric parameters. It is shown that is possible to optimize the piezoelectric properties of Sn2P2S6 films by prescribing the certainrelief of the substrate surface.

A superconducting, current controllable, distributed RC-component was designed and fabricated. The component consisted of YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) thin film resistor, which was covered with a dielectric layer and an electrode to form a capacitor. The YBCO thin film was deposited by pulsed laser ablation on a SiTiO3 (100) substrate. It was patterned by photolithography and wet etched to form a tapered strip. This YBCO strip was covered with a lead zirconate titanate layer made by laser ablation and, finally, the dielectric layer was covered with a gold electrode by vacuum evaporation. The electrical characteristics of the superconducting YBCO film and the -element were measured.

Using the constructed component, high-pass and notch filter circuits were demonstrated. It was possible to control the electrical properties of these filters by a dc-current applied through the YBCO strip which causes the superconducting film to be come partly resistive.

The present paper deals with anisotropie dynamic strain sensors based on polycrystalline Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.45W0.01Cd0.01)O3 films. The films were deposited on ceramic substrates designed to operate at radiofrequencies. The planar interdigitated Al electrodes were deposited on the film surfaces. To pole the films the sawtooth monopolar pulses of the amplitude ranging from 5 · 107 to 8 · 107 V/m were used during the heating of the films from room temperature to 300 °C and the following cooling down to room temperature (Tc = 360 °C).