Effect of crystal orientation on dielectric properties of lead zirconium titanate thin films prepared by reactive RF-sputtering

Theoretical calculations based on phenomenology of ferroelectrics have been previously reported for lead zirconium titanate (PZT) system. This paper offers an experimental comparison of the crystal orientation dependence of dielectric properties for PZT thin films grown using reactive RF-sputtering. Highly oriented PZT thin films with a rhombohedral composition have been grown in different orientations using selective rapid thermal annealing cycles. The PZT(100) oriented films showed larger dielectric constant and loss compared to PZT(111) films. The PZT(100) films possessed sharp square-like hysteresis loops indicating a instantaneous switching of domains at the coercive field whereas the PZT(111) films showed smooth hysteresis loops as expected from our phenomenological calculations.