Effect of H2 Annealing on a Pt/PbZrxTi1-xO3 Interface Studied by X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

The chemical reaction and the change in the Schottky barrier height at the Pt/PbZr x Ti1- x O3 (PZT) interface as a result of annealing was studied by in-vacuo X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Annealing at 320° C produced metallic Pb atoms which migrated on the Pt surface. There were more of these atoms when the annealing was done in H2 than in a vacuum. After H2 annealing, the core level peaks for the elements in the PZT showed a band bending shift of ∼0.4 V toward higher binding energy, indicating that the n-type Schottky barrier height at the Pt/PZT interface was lowered by the H2 annealing.