Polar-axis-oriented crystal growth of tetragonal PZT films on stainless steel substrate using pseudo-perovskite nanosheet buffer layer

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) film with polar axis orientation was grown on a SUS 316L stainless steel substrate with the help of a Ca2Nb3O10 nanosheet (ns-CN) layer that had a pseudo-perovskite-type crystal structure. The ns-CN buffer layer was supported on a platinized SUS 316L (Pt/SUS) substrate, followed by chemical solution deposition (CSD) of the PZT films with tetragonal symmetry (Zr/Ti =40/60). The PZT films consisting of c-domain, with [001]-axis orientation of the perovskite unit cell, were deposited on the ns-CN/Pt/SUS substrate owing to (i) epitaxial lattice matching between the unit cell of PZT and substrate surface and (ii) in-plane thermal stress applied to the PZT film during cooling-down step of CSD procedure. The c-domain-oriented PZT film on ns-CN/Pt/SUS substrate exhibited enhanced remanent polarization of approximately 52 μC/cm2 and lowered dielectric permittivity of approximately 230, which are superior to those of conventional PZT films with random crystal orientation and comparable to those of epitaxial PZT films grown on (100)SrRuO3//(100)SrTiO3 substrates.