Rapid thermal processing of sol-gel derived PZT 53/47 thin layers

The method of rapid thermal processing (RTP) has been suggested to be a means by which the formation of intermediary phases in sol-gel derived Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ (PZT) thin layers can be suppressed before the crystallization of the desired perovskite phase. However, the dependence of densification and crystallization processes in sol-gel derived materials on thermal processing conditions such as heating rate, α, and firing temperature, T_f, can lead to differences in the properties of otherwise identical materials prepared by different thermal profiles. In this paper, the effects of thermal processing conditions on the properties of PZT 53/47 (i.e., Zr:Ti=53:47) thin layers are reported. The evolution of structure after RTP was examined by diffuse reflectance FTIR spectroscopy, and electron microscopy. It was found that crystallization of the perovskite phase shifted to higher temperatures, and the shrinkage normal to the plane of the substrate decreased, with increasing heating rate