Hydrothermal synthesis of heteroepitaxial Pb(Zr_xTi_1−x)O₃ thin films at 90–150 °C

Pb(Zr_xTi_1−x)O₃ and PbZrO₃ heteroepitaxial thin films were produced in an aqueous solution (10 M KOH) at ambient pressure and low temperatures (90–150 °C) on (001) SrTiO₃ and LaAlO₃ single crystal substrates. Growth of the Pb(Zr_xTi_1−x)O₃ and PbZrO₃ thin films initiates by the formation of {100} faceted islands. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis of the Pb(Zr_xTi_1−x)O₃ thin film shows that the Zr: Ti ratio is 45: 56, nearly identical to the molar ratio of the precursors. This route might provide a viable low temperature alternative for the formation of high dielectric constant thin films for applications such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM).