A systematic study on the growth of PZNT films by LPE method

Liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) was used to grow (1−x)Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3−xPbTiO3 (PZNT) films on different substrates. The morphology and epitaxial relationship of PZNT films with these substrates were investigated by optical microscopy and XRD. It was found that PZNT grains on planes of (001) MgO, (001) LaAlO3 (LAO) and two specific planes of SrTiO3 (STO), i.e. (110) or (111), distribute randomly and show no evident epitaxial relationship with these substrates. However PZNT films on (001) STO substrates exhibit very encouraging in-plane epitaxial relation: [100](001)PZNT // [100](001)STO, which was observed directly by OM, SEM and further confirmed by X-ray diffraction. C 2006 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.