Structural and photoelectrical properties of Nb-doped PZT thin films deposited by pulsed laser ablation

Sintered targets of Nb5+ doped PZT (65/35) (rhombohedral phase) were used in a pulsed laser deposition process to produce, in a single step, highly oriented ferroelectric thin films onto Pt (111)/TiO2/SiO2/Si substrates for electrical applications. The doping influence of 1% mol Nb on the crystalline phase formation and the resulting ferroelectrical and photoelectrical properties of the deposited films were investigated. The characterization was performed using X-ray diffraction, P–E hysteresis loop and photoelectric measurements. Maintaining the same composition PZTN (65/35/1), a comparison with bulk materials and thin films produced by sol-gel technique is also performed. The presented results give some indications about a possible existence of a “dead-layer” in the as-deposited films.