Growth of (001)-oriented PZT thin films on amorphous SiO₂ by pulsed laser deposition

Using pulsed laser deposition (PLD), (001)-textured Nb-doped Pb (Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ (PZT) films with highly restricted in-plane crystallographic alignments were successfully deposited on Si (001) wafers covered with amorphous SiO₂. MgO and SrTiO₃ (STO) films were used as buffer and seed layers, respectively, for growth of YBa₂Cu₃O₇ (YBCO) and PZT layers. The YBCO layer can serve as a bottom electrode for activation of PZT films. Variations in the deposition conditions for the MgO films were found to play a key role in the subsequent deposition of the oriented PZT thin films. MgO films deposited at an O₂ partial pressure of 200 mtorr, have a strong (100) texture, leading to subsequent deposition of PZT films with both a strong (100) texture and highly restricted in-plane orientations. Although the MgO and STO films show very strong crystallographic textures, their in-plane orientations are random. The restricted in-plane orientations were only observed in the YBCO and PZT films.