Dielectric properties of lead zirconate titanate thin films deposited on metal foils

Ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films deposited on metal foil substrates are suitable for developing a wide range of applications. In this letter, we report on PZT films deposited on a variety of foils, including titanium, stainless steel, brass, and nickel alloys, using sol–gel processing. The dielectric properties were shown to depend strongly on the foil material. Excellent properties for capacitors, including high dielectric constant (ε=400), low dielectric loss (loss tangent of <5%), and low leakage current (below 5×10−8 A at 5 V) were obtained on titanium and good results were also obtained on other foils, such as stainless steel and brass foils. Also, excellent high-frequency properties were observed for capacitors on titanium, stainless steel, and brass foils.