Effect of Tb3+ doping on the preferred orientation of lead titanate thin film prepared by sol–gel method on ITO/glass substrates

Tb doped PbTiO3 (PT) thin films were prepared on ITO/glass substrates by sol–gel method. XRD was used to investigate the phase status of the thin films. It is shown that through rapid thermal process, the perovskite phase PbTiO3 thin films with highly (100) preferred orientation could be formed on the astatic ITO/glass substrates when Tb is doped into PbTiO3 system. The (100) preferred orientation of Tb-doped PbTiO3 films is attributed to the heterogeneous nucleation mechanism of the perovskite PbTiO3 phase induced by Tb doping and rapid thermal preparation process. It is successfully explained according to this mechanism that the content of the (100) oriented Tb-doped perovskite phase in PbTiO3 films varies with Tb doping concentration. An optimal doping concentration of Tb to achieve highly (100) oriented and well-crystallized PbTiO3 films is discovered. And a theoretical equation of the perovskite phase content as a function of Tb doping concentration is deduced.