Epitaxial PbZr.52Ti.48O3 films on SrTiO3/(001)Si substrates deposited by sol–gel method

We report on the sol–gel deposition and characterization of high-quality, epitaxial films of PbZr.52Ti.48O3 (PZT) on (001)Si substrates, with a thickness range of 400 Å to 1 μm. The epitaxial growth of PZT on (001)Si is achieved using a thin template layer of SrTiO3, grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. The sol–gel PZT films have a typical surface roughness of 5 Å and exhibit well defined reflective high-energy electron diffraction patterns characteristic of smooth, epitaxial films. Using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and double-crystal x-ray diffraction, we find that the PZT films are oriented with the c axis normal to the (001)Si plane and with the a axis lying along 〈110〉Si direction. Finally, we measure the electromechanical coupling coefficients and the surface acoustic wave velocities for our films as a function of thickness and compare our experimental data to previously published theoretical values for this system.