Chemical vapor deposition of Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3 films by Pb(C2H5)4,Ti(i-OC3H7)4, Zr(t-OC4H9)4 and O2:: role of lead oxide formation from Pb(C2H5)4 and O2 on film properties

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films are prepared via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method using tetraethyl lead [Pb(C2H5)(4)], zirconium tert-butoxide [Zr(i-OC4H9)(4)], titanium tetraisopropoxide [Ti(i-OC3H7)(4)] and oxygen as the reactants at temperatures ranging from 723 to 873 K. The growth mechanism to obtain ferroelectric PZT films has been investigated by understanding the key reaction within the multi-component CVD system. Based on a growth rate kinetics study, a Langmuir-Hinshelwood typed reaction between adsorbed Pb(C2H5)(4) and oxygen to form PbO is found to play an important role in determining the properties of PZT films including composition, crystallinity, and growth rate. This key reaction also explains well why growth behavior differs on various oxide substrates. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.