Crystallization of sol-gel derived lead-zirconate-titanate thin films in argon and oxygen atmospheres

Electron diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopic techniques are applied to reveal the mechanisms of crystallization of free standing 75-nm-thick thin films of ferroelectric lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT). Sol-gel methods, followed by pyrolysis at 350 °C, were used to provide a common starting point after which a variety of rapid-thermal annealing (RTA) experiments in the temperature range 400–700 °C were made in argon, oxygen, and nitrogen/hydrogen atmospheres. The results are interpreted in terms of a crystal chemical analysis, which points out that partial pressure of oxygen and heating rate are important experimental parameters which must be controlled if ferroelectric perovskite-type Pb2(Zr,Ti)2O6, rather than pyrochlore-type Pb2(Zr,Ti)2O6+X, where 0