Strain Relaxation and Formation of a-domains for PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 Thin Films Epitaxially Grown on SrTiO3 Substrates

We have studied the strain relaxation and the formation of a-domains for PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin films epitaxially grown on SrTiO3 substrates by using an off-axis RF sputtering technique. By analyzing the X-ray data of PZT thin film with various thicknesses, we confirmed that the strain relaxation process was associated with the formation and the ordering of vertical edge dislocations. The formation of a-domains were confirmed by using a reciprocal space mapping experiment. From the Warren-Averbach analysis of the in-plane and the out-of-plane X-ray data, the formation of a-domains is related to abrupt decreases in the micro-strain caused by breaking the coherency of the single domain state. KCI Citation Count: 3