Thin films of BaTiO3 and Pb(Zr53 Ti47)O3 (PZT) have been deposited on Pt and Pt-coated silicon substrates using both Nd-YAG and excimer lasers. The BaTiO3 films were prepared using heated substrates and were crystalline. The PZT films were deposited at room temperature and were amorphous; on annealing, they crystallized and gave rise to well-defined powder x-ray diffraction patterns.

To compare and correlate the properties and processing conditions of these thin films, characterizations were performed using a variety of analytical techniques including x-ray diffraction, TEM, SEM/EDX and ferroelectric and dielectric property measurements. The x-ray diffraction technique was used for identifying the various phases formed and also for analyzing the profiles of the diffraction peaks. Both the PZT films annealed below 800°C and the BaTiO3 films typically show polycrystalline x-ray diffraction patterns corresponding to a pseudo-cubic structure (i.e no peak splitting) instead of the tetragonal patterns characteristic of the target materials. It was found that for the BaTiO3 films the pseudosymmetry was due to crystallographic alignment of the longer c-axis In the substrate surface to relieve strain. In the FZT films annealed below 900°C, it is suggested that the residual surface strain and/or small crystallite size of these materials may have precluded the peak splitting; at higher annealing temperatures, the tetragonal symmetry was recovered.