Excimer Laser Deposition of PLZT Thin Films

摘要

Laser ablation has been used to produce thin films of lanthanum- modified lead zirconate titanate or PLZT, as defined by Pb(1-x)La(x)(Zr(1-y) Ti(y)(1-x/4)O3). PLZT is an interesting class of materials having a wide range of compositionally dependent electrooptical properties and strong non-linear optical characteristics. PLZT is highly transparent in the infrared and visible spectral regions with a UV band edge occurring at approximately 300 nm. Therefore, opportunities for applications of PLZT thin films for electronic and optoelectronic devices are numerous. Such proposed devices include optical switches, optical modulators, thin film waveguides, and nonvolatile memory devices. In order to integrate these devices into optical systems, the production of high quality thin films with high transparency and perovskite crystal structure is desired. This requires development of deposition technologies to overcome the challenges of depositing and processing PLZT thin films.