Deposition of nanosized grains of ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate on thin films using dense plasma focus

Abstract

Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3 (PZT) thin films have been successfully deposited on glass, silicon and ITO coated glass substrates by a 3.3?kJ Mather type dense plasma focus device. The x-ray diffraction spectra of the films deposited on glass substrates kept at a distance of 4.2?cm from the top of the anode with 10, 15 and 25 shots show peaks at 2? = 31.3? corresponding to the perovskite phase of PZT. Transmission electron microscopy shows the presence of 0.5?nm grains of PZT. The leakage current density is found to be 10?6?A?cm?2 at a reverse voltage of 1?V, from current density?voltage (J?V) characteristics. The capacitance?voltage (C?V) characteristics show a counter-clockwise hysteresis loop with a memory window of 1.2?V. The ferroelectric characteristic has been confirmed using the polarization?field hysteresis loop. The resistance of the film is about 1?G?. The spontaneous polarization, remanent polarization and coercive field values are found to be 20.1??C?cm?2, 8.6??C?cm?2 and 79.9?kV?cm?1, respectively.