Plasma emission controlled multi-target reactive sputtering for in-situ crystallized Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 thin films on 6″ Si-wafers

Reactive sputtering from three metallic targets (Ti, Zr, and Pb) in O2 and Ar gas mixture was utilized to deposit in-situ crystallized Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) thin films onto ZrO2 buffered 6″ Si-wafers. The plasma emission control of reactive sputtering was used to stabilize Ti target in the “transition region” during co-sputtering. The stable and reproducible PZT thin film deposition on large area has been demonstrated. The reactive sputtering behavior of the metal targets has been explained on the basis of the change in surface binding energies. The morphological, structural, and chemical properties of PZT have been examined as a function of deposition temperature (480-580 °C). At the deposition temperature of 580 °C, the PZT films crystallized directly into the perovskite phase.