Characterization of Ferroelectric Thin Film PLZT(9/65/35) on R-Plane Sapphire

The deposition of ferroelectric PLZT on r-plane sapphire using R-F Triode Magnetron Sputtering is reported. R-plane (1102) sapphire is chosen, in spite of its large lattice mismatch to PLZT, because of its capability of integrating MOS silicon circuits with PLZT modulators. Perovskite PLZT films with the desired composition (9/65/35) are obtained using co-deposition techniques around 5000C and post deposition annealing at 650°C. The deposited films exhibit good optical and electro-optical properties. The room temperature dielectric constant of the films was 1800 at 10 Khz. The refractive index of the films was in the range 2.2–2.5. The films showed a quadratic E-O effect with R=0.6xl0‒16 m2/V2. The films are promising for smart Spatial Light Modulators (SLM) applications.