Enhancement of PbZrO3 polarization using a Ti seed layer for energy storage application

Enhancement of lead zirconate (PbZrO 3) polarization is achieved by using a titanium seed layer on alumina polycrystalline substrate. Thanks to the reduction of the lattice mismatch between the platinum electrode (3.92 Å) and the PbZrO 3 films (4.14 Å), lead zirconate thin films oriented along the (111) direction with an orientation factor of around 65 % has been obtained. The (111) PbZrO 3 presents an increase of 56 % of the polarization compared to the (100) PbZrO 3. This enhancement is responsible of the higher recoverable energy storage density obtained in the (111) PbZrO 3 thin films (8 J/cm 3 at 600 kV/cm with an efficiency of 72 %). The (111) PbZrO 3 also has a higher figure of merit, which indicates that the (111) crystallographic plane is the most favorable direction for energy storage.