Effect of Electrode Layer on the Polydomain Structure of Epitaxial PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 Thin Films

Published

March 15, 1999

Author(s)

S P. Alpay, V Nagarajan, Leonid A. Bendersky, Mark D. Vaudin, S Aggarwal, R Ramesh, Alexander L. Roytburd

Abstract

PbZr_0.2Ti_0.8O₃(PZT) thin films with and without La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃(LSCO) electrodes were grown epitaxially on (001) SrTiO₃ (STO) at 650 C by pulsed laser deposition. The domain structure of the 400 nm thick PZT films with different electrode layer configurations was investigated by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The c-domain fractions of the PZT films with no electrode layer, with a 50 nm electrode layer between the film and the substrate, and with 50 nm electrode layers on top and bottom of the PZT film were found to be equal. Theoretical estimation of the c-domain fraction based on the minimization of the energy of internal stresses in films is in good agreement with experimental results. This means that depolarizing fields do not affect the polydomain structure of the film. Calculations of the inplane strains based on the lattice parameters of the LSCO layer in the above configurations led to the conclusion that the bottom electrode layer is coherently strained to match the substrate.

Citation

Journal of Applied Physics

Volume

85

Issue

No. 6

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

domain structure, electrode, epitaxial, LSCO, PZT

Citation

Alpay, S. , Nagarajan, V. , Bendersky, L. , Vaudin, M. , Aggarwal, S. , Ramesh, R. and Roytburd, A. (1999), Effect of Electrode Layer on the Polydomain Structure of Epitaxial PbZr_0.2Ti_0.8O₃ Thin Films, Journal of Applied Physics (Accessed April 25, 2024)