Enhanced ferroelectric properties of (Pb0.90La0.10)Ti0.975O3 multilayered thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

The (Pb0.90La0.10)Ti0.975O3/PbTiO3 (PLT/PT), PbTiO3/(Pb0.90La0.10)Ti0.975O3/PbTiO3 (PT/PLT/PT) multilayered thin films with a PbOx buffer layer were in situ deposited by RF magnetron sputtering at the substrate temperature of 600 °C. With this method, highly (1 0 0)-oriented PLT/PT and PT/PLT/PT multilayered thin films were obtained. The PbOx buffer layer leads to the (1 0 0) orientation of the films. The dielectric, ferroelectric and pyroelectric properties of the PLT multilayered thin films were investigated. It is found that highly (1 0 0)-oriented PT/PLT/PT multilayered thin films possess higher remnant polarization 2Pr (44.1 μC/cm2) and better pyroelectric coefficient at room temperature p (p = 2.425 × 10−8 C/cm2 K) than these of PLT and PLT/PT thin films. These results indicate that the design of the PT/PLT/PT multilayered thin films with a PbOx buffer layer should be an effective way to enhance the dielectric, ferroelectric and pyroelectric properties. The mechanism of the enhanced ferroelectric properties was also discussed.