Orientation control of sol-gel-derived lead zirconate titanate film by addition of polyvinylpyrrolidone

Highly (100)- and (111)-oriented lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films with a thickness of 350 nm were deposited on platinized Si substrates through a single spinning of a PZT sol containing polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as an additive. The crystallographic orientation of the film was strongly influenced by pyrolysis conditions after spin coating. When the spin-coated sol was pyrolyzed at temperatures above 320 °C for relatively long periods of time (>5 min), (111)-oriented film was formed after annealing at 700 °C for 10 min. On the other hand, when the same sol was pyrolyzed at 320 °C for short periods of time (<5 min), the film was strongly oriented to the (100) direction after annealing. Organic residues derived from PVP decomposition acted as nucleation sites for the (100) oriented grains during annealing after the pyrolysis. The effective d₃₃ of the (100)-oriented PZT film (100 pC/N) was much higher than that of the (111)-oriented film (62 pC/N) with the same thickness.