Highly textured PbTiO3 thin films through a sol-gel process

PbTiO3 thin films have been deposited by a sol-gel method onto various crystalline substrates and their texture has been investigated. The perovskite phase crystallizes directly from an amorphous mixture above 350 °C. Films have preferential orientation along the (001) axis on (100) MgO, are strongly oriented along both the (110) and (101) axis on (1102) sapphire, and along the (001) axis on (100) SrTiO3. High texturing is only observed on this last substrate as evidenced by rocking curves and channeling effects in Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. The origin of the strain observed along the c axis is also discussed. The thickness of the films has a strong effect on the texturing. Thin films crystallize as well textured, whereas orientation appears in thick films only after heating at high temperatures.