The effect of Nb doping on ferroelectric properties of PZT thin films prepared from polymeric precursors

Pure and Nb doped PbZr0.4Ti0.6O3 thin films was prepared by the polymeric precursor method and deposited by spin coating on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si (100) substrates and annealed at 700 °C. The films are oriented in (1 1 0) and (1 0 0) direction. The electric properties of PZT thin films show strong dependence of the crystallographic orientation. The P–E hysteresis loops for the thin film with composition PbZr0.39Ti0.6Nb0.1O3 showed good saturation, with values for coercive field (Ec) equal to 60 KV cm−1 and for remanent polarization (Pr) equal to 20 μC cm−2. The measured dielectric constant (ɛ) is 1084 for this film. These results show good potential for application in FERAM.