Microstructure and optical properties of amorphous and crystalline PbZrO3 thin films grown on Si(100) substrates by a sol–gel process

Amorphous and crystalline PbZrO3 thin films deposited on Si(100) substrate have been prepared by a sol–gel process. The crystal structure and surface morphologies of the thin films have been studied by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The crystalline PbZrO3 film on Si(100) substrate is a pseudocubic structure with a (111) orientation. The refractive index n and extinction coefficient k of the amorphous and crystalline thin films were obtained by spectroscopic ellipsometry as a function of the photon energy in the range from 2.0 to 5.4 eV. The absorption edges for amorphous and crystalline PbZrO3 thin films are 4.07 and 3.63 eV, respectively. The absorption edge of the amorphous PbZrO3 film shift to high energy is mainly due to the quantum-size effect.