NRBS, RBS, TEM and SAED characterisation of sol-gel PZT films

TEM-SAED investigations were performed on PZT films, to elucidate the role of pyrolysis conditions on orientation selection. For short pyrolysis, occurrence of the metastable fluorite and the interfacial PtxPb template layer are the factors inducing the (1 1 1) PZT orientation. For advanced pyrolysis, the TiO2 interfacial layer could be responsible for (1 0 0) PZT strong orientation. To further investigate the stoichiometry of PZT and interfacial layers, we performed heavy ion RBS and NRBS measurements. Only a substoichiometric TiO2−x layer is found for the short pyrolized film whereas two Ti and O rich layers were observed for advanced pyrolysis. The thicker oxygen rich TiO2−x bottom layer, observed by TEM and NRBS analysis, could lead to 〈1 0 0〉 texture, observed for oxidizing conditions at the interface during pyrolysis.