Gamma-ray irradiation effects on electrical properties of ferroelectric PbTiO3 and Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 thin films

We investigated gamma-ray irradiation effects on electrical properties of ferroelectric PbTiO3 (PTO) and Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) thin films. PTO and PZT thin films were prepared on the Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by using a sol–gel method with a spin-coating process. The prepared PTO and PZT thin films were subjected to gamma radiation with various total doses from 0kGy to 300kGy. There were no noticeable morphological and structural changes in PTO and PZT films before and after irradiation. As a total dose increases up to 300kGy, a larger degradation behavior of electrical properties was observed in the PZT films rather than in the PTO films. About 35% of remanent polarization value decreased for the PZT films, while just 10% of that decreased for the PTO films. Dielectric constant of PZT films decreased much from 850 to 580, but that of the PTO films decreased just a little from 400 to 340. This degradation behavior of polarization and dielectric properties can be explained by the pinning of domain walls by some radiation-induced defects. These results suggest that the PTO films have higher radiation hardness properties than the PZT films. •Gamma-ray irradiation effects on electrical properties of PbTiO3 and Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 films•Radiation-induced defects and degradation of electrical properties•Radiation hardness of PbTiO3 and Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 films