Effect of laser-ablation process parameters and post-annealing treatment on ferroelectric PZT thin films

A pulsed XeCl-excimer laser with a wavelength of 308 nm and pulse duration of 20 ns was used to ablate ferroelectric Nd-modified lead–zirconate–titanate PNZT.ceramic targets Pb0.97Nd0.02 Zr0.55Ti0.45.O3.at various laser-beam fluences between 0.2 and 3.0 Jrcm2 using scanning laser-beam conditions. The growth rate of the PNZT thin film as a function of the number of laser pulses or time.was measured with a quartz-crystal resonator. Otherwise, the average growth rate of the films on the sapphire and MgO substrates as a function of the laser-beam fluence was determined by measuring the maximum film thickness after deposition. The spatial distribution of the film thickness was also measured. The structure and composition of the thin films were studied as a function of the laser-beam fluence and post-annealing temperature between 600 and 9008C with X-ray diffraction measurements together with SEM and EDS analyses. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.