ABSTRACTRare-earth-substituted tetragonal lead zirconate titanate thin films were synthesized for improving the ferroelectric property of conventional lead zirconate titanate. Thin films of Pb1.00REx (Zr0.40Ti0.60)1-(3x /4)O3 (x = 0.02, RE = Y, Dy, Er and Yb) were deposited on (111)Pt/Ti/SiO2/(100)Si substrates by a chemical solution deposition (CSD). B-site substitution using rare-earth cations described above enhanced the crystal anisotropy, i.e., ratio of PZT lattice parameters c/a. Remanent polarization (Pr) of PZT film was enhanced by Y3+-, Dy3+- and Er3+-substitution from 20 μC/cm2 up to 26, 25 and 26 μC/cm2 respectively, while ion substitution using Yb3+ degraded the Pr value down to 16 μC/cm2. These films had similar coercive fields (Ec) of around 100 kV/cm. Improving the ferroelectric property of PZT film by rare-earth-substitution would be ascribed to the enhancement of the crystal anisotropy. We concluded that ion substitution using some rare-earth cations, such as Y3+, Dy3+ or Er3+, is one of promising technique for improving the ferroelectric property of PZT film.
Composition influences on the electrical and electromechanical properties of lead zirconate titanate thin films