Ion beam etching of PZT thin films: Influence of grain size on the damages induced

Ion beam etching (IBE) of sputtered Pb(Zr0.54,Ti0.46)O3 has been performed using pure Ar gas. We have studied the damages induced by the etching process on the microstructural and electrical properties. In a previous study, we had demonstrated the influence of etching parameters on the extent of the degradations. We evaluate now the influence of the microstructure (grain size) of the PZT thin film. Indeed, we can obtain sputtered PZT thin films with small (<1.5 μm) and large (≫1.5 μm) grain size. In the first part, we compare the properties of these two types of PZT thin films before etching. In the second part, we compare the results obtained after etching. The properties (particularly the roughness and the ferroelectric properties) of PZT films with large grain size appear to be more damaged after IBE.