Direct crystallization of perovskite phase in PMN–PT thin films prepared by polyvinylpyrrolidone modified sol–gel processing and their properties

A modified sol–gel processing has been developed by using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as modifier and lead nitrate as lead source to synthesize (1−x)Pb(Mg1/3,Nb2/3)O3–xPbTiO3 (PMN–PT) thin films with x=0.23–0.43. With PVP additions, perovskite phase could directly crystallize from amorphous films at the temperature as low as 430 °C via bypassing the metastable phase-pyrochlore and crystallinity was significantly enhanced. The PVP addictives have been optimized with molecular weight <630 K and the ratio of PVP monomer/PMN–PT at 0.25–1.0. XPS analysis indicates that the chemical states of the elements in the well-crystallized PMN–PT films are close to the literature data for the PMN–PT single crystals and the films possess highly desired electrical and optical properties.

Graphical abstractA polyvinylpyrrolidone modified sol–gel processing was developed to synthesize pure-perovskite Pb(Mg1/3,Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 films via bypassing pyrochlore phase.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide