The microstructure and ferroelectric properties of PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 films on mica substrates

Abstract PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 (PZT) tetragonal ferroelectric films have been fabricated on flexible mica and rigid silicon substrates respectively with a bottom electrode of LaNiO3 (LNO) films via a low-cost sol-gel process. The microstructure and ferroelectric properties of both films were systematically investigated. The quantitative analysis results of XRD and TEM indicate that the PZT film on Si substrate suffer from residual in-plane tensile stress, while a virtually strain-free film can be obtained on mica substrate. The PZT film on mica substrate has a lower local coercive voltage studied by a piezoelectric response force microscope. It is the weak van der Waals interaction between the film and the two-dimensional mica substrate that reduce the substrate clamping effect and contribute to a more free response to the electric field for domain walls. A large measured residual polarization of ∼ 52μC/cm2 was obtained for the film on mica substrate, and the P−E loops can remain stable after bending cycles of 1000 times. The flexible PZT thin film is expected to have a strong potential application in the next generation of wearable devices.