Irradiation Effects In Lead Zirzonate Thin Films

Lead zirconate PbZrO3 (PZ) and PbZr0.53Ti0.47O3 (PZT) sol-gel films with a thickness of up to 1.5 mum were deposited on TiO2/Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si substrates by spin coating technique and heterostructures of the same composition as well as on Pb0.92La0.08 (Zr0.65Ti0.35)O-3 (PLZT-8) (with a thickness of 0.4 mum) were pulse laser deposited (PLD) on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si. Observation of a typical antiferroelectric (AFE) double hysteresis loop in obtained PZ heterostructures at room temperature was attributed to the superior dielectric strength in case of thin film materials. The thermal behaviour of dielectric permittivity E of PZ film reveals a maximum near 225degreesC on heating and 219degreesC on cooling.The higher resistance of antiferroelectric PZ thin films as compared to ferroelectric (e.g., PZT, PLZT-8) heterostructures to neutron irradiation (up to fluence 2x 10(22)m(-2))* is recognized and discussed.