Investigation of the structural and microstructural characteristics of sol-gel derived lead lanthanum titanate thin films

摘要

In the present work we have studied the characteristics of Pb{sub}(1.05-x)La{sub}xTi{sub}(1-x/4)O{sub}3 (x = 0 to 30 at%) thin films prepared by acetic acid and methoxy-ethanol based sol-gel techniques. We have found that higher intermediate temperature fired films (x=0.15), prepared by acetic acid modified technique yielded (100) textured growth with improved dielectric properties. It has been argued that homogeneous mixing of the film constituents in the sol is influenced by the choice of the precursor materials and preparation methodology which in turn controls the growth characteristics and electrical properties. Lanthanum as a dopant has a pronounced influence on the structure, microstructure and electrical properties of the deposited films. In the Raman spectra, the soft E(1TO) phonon shifts towards the lower frequency with a sharp decrease in its intensity and a tetragonal to cubic structural transformation (for 26.5 at % La) was observed at room temperature. In the ferroelectric composition range (up to 15 at % La doping), we have observed a significant improvement of ferroelectric properties with the La addition.