Texture control of PbTiO 3 and Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 thin films with TiO 2 seeding

Abstract The nature and the role of 1 to 5 nm thick TiO 2 seed layers for the growth of textured PbTiO 3 and Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 thin films on textured Pt(111) thin film substrates have been studied. Under otherwise identical in situ sputter deposition process conditions, the PbTiO 3 texture could be turned from (100) to (111) orientation by adding the seed layer. This is demonstrated by patterning the TiO 2 film. Auger electron spectroscopy and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy showed that the seed layer was a continuous TiO 2 film. X-ray photoelectron diffraction measurements revealed epitaxial ordering in the seed layer. As there is no azimuthal order among the Pt grains, the reduced information of azimuthally averaged polar cuts is obtained. These give strong evidence for a strained rutile (110) structure. Various deposition experiments indicated that the TiO 2 is effective only when it is ordered before the PbTiO 3 nucleation starts. The epitaxial relationship between PbTiO