Optical scattering of nanocrystalline Pb(ZrxTi1−x)O3 films

Optical characterisation methods, including spectrophotometry at UV-vis-NIR wavelengths and the prism-coupler method, were applied to polycrystalline Pb(ZrxTi(1-x))O3 thin films with various thicknesses. Thin films were deposited at room temperature by pulsed laser deposition on MgO (100) substrates and post-annealed at different temperatures. The crystal structure and surface morphology of the thin films were characterised by XRD and AFM. Well oscillating transmission with a sharp fall near the absorption edge was found in films with high orientation and low surface roughness. Changes in the surface morphology and crystal orientation were found to modulate optical interference maxima and minima of the transmittance spectra and to increase the width of the TE(zero) mode (Delta-beta about 0.06) indicating an increase in the scattering losses of the films. Single-phase oriented films had sharpest coupling values (Delta-beta about 0.005) of the TE(zero) mode.