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Sol–gel synthesis and characterization of PZT thin films on FTO/aluminoborosilicate glass substrates

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Abstract

The deposition of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films on transparent substrates is a relevant issue due to the increasing interest in PZT-based nanocomposites for photovoltaic applications. In this work, PZT thin films were deposited onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)-coated aluminoborosilicate glass (AG) substrates using a modified sol–gel route. AG substrates have the advantage of high thermal resistance and low cost compared to quartz. Conventional furnace annealing (CFA) and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) processes were compared at different temperatures to determine optimum conditions for the fabrication of good-quality films. Crack-free films of ~ 240 nm thickness were fully crystallized to the perovskite structure with no segregation of secondary phases. The optical band gap slightly increases with the increase of the annealing temperature. Au/PZT/FTO-AG capacitors exhibited good dielectric and ferroelectric properties. The best results were obtained for the films treated by CFA at 650 °C, which display well-defined low-frequency hysteresis loops.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Myriam H. Aguirre and Miguel A. Rengifo for the access to the electric equipment at LMA- University of Zaragoza to perform the ferroelectric measurements.

Funding

This work was supported by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentina (CONICET). M.G.S. thanks support from Consejo de Investigaciones de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario (CIUNR). We also acknowledge the financial support of H2020-MSCA-RISE-2020 MELON Grant No.872631.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Física Rosario (IFIR), CONICET – Universidad Nacional de Rosario, 27 de Febrero 210 Bis, Rosario, Argentina

    M. B. Di Marco, L. Imhoff, M. V. Roldán, S. Barolin & M. G. Stachiotti

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  1. M. B. Di Marco
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  2. L. Imhoff
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  3. M. V. Roldán
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  4. S. Barolin
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  5. M. G. Stachiotti
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by MBDM, LI, MVR, and SB. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MS and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to M. G. Stachiotti.

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Di Marco, M.B., Imhoff, L., Roldán, M.V. et al. Sol–gel synthesis and characterization of PZT thin films on FTO/aluminoborosilicate glass substrates. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 1171 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-10596-3

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