Domain structure control of (001)∕(100)-oriented epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 films grown on (100)cSrRuO3∕(100)SrTiO3 substrates

The domain structure and electrical properties were systematically investigated in (001)∕(100)-oriented tetragonal epitaxial Pb(Zr0.35,Ti0.65)O3 thin films grown on (100)cSrRuO3∕(100)SrTiO3 substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The wide range of domain structures with various volume fractions of c-domains from 0.05 to 1.0 was systematically controlled by changing the growth temperature from 380to540°C and the film thickness from 50to380nm, while keeping the other processing conditions the same. Reducing the deposition temperature and∕or increasing the film thickness reduced the population of c-domains. The relative dielectric constant (≈500) of the a-domain dominant films (volume fraction of c-axis-oriented domains, VC≈0.05) was larger than that (≈300) of the c-domain dominant ones (VC≈1.0). In the c-domain dominant region, the saturation and remanent polarization changed linearly with the volume fraction of c-domains. In the a-domain dominant region, they showed extraordinary large values, suggesting that a-domain switching makes a large contribution in this region.