Low symmetry phase in Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 epitaxial thin films with enhanced ferroelectric properties

Abstract

The authors report the structural and ferroelectric properties of Pb (Zr0.52 Ti0.48) O3 (PZT) epitaxial thin films grown on (001), (110), and (111) SrRu O3 SrTi O3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition. A monoclinic C (Mc) phase has been found for (101) films, whereas (001) and (111) ones were tetragonal (T) and rhombohedral (R), respectively. The authors find that the ferroelectric polarization of the Mc phase is higher than that in either the T or R ones. These results are consistent with predictions (i) of epitaxial phase diagrams and (ii) that the enhanced ferroelectric properties of morphotropic phase boundary PZT are related to a low symmetry monoclinic phase. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.