Orientation control and ferroelectric properties of (Pb 0.90 La 0.10 )Ti 0.975 O 3 thin films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering with a LaNiO 3 buffer layer

Highly (110)‐ and (100)‐oriented (Pb 0.90 La 0.10 )Ti 0.975 O 3 (PLT) thin films were deposited on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO 2 /Si(100) and SiO 2 /Si(100) substrates by rf magnetron sputtering with a LaNiO 3 (LNO) buffer layer. The LNO buffer layer plays an important role in the orientation and ferroelectric properties of the PLT thin films. Highly (100)‐oriented PLT thin films deposited on the LNO/SiO 2 /Si(100) substrates are obtained at a low processing temperature of 500 °C. The ferroelectric properties of the PLT thin films with different orientations are discussed. Highly (100)‐oriented PLT thin films possess better ferroelec‐ tric properties, with higher remnant polarization (2 P r = 40.4 μC/cm 2 ) and lower coercive field (2 E c = 201 kV/cm) than that of (110)‐oriented PLT thin films (2 P r = 22.4 μC/cm 2 , 2 E c = 246 kV/cm). The enhanced ferroelectric property is attributed to the different orientations of the PLT thin films. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)