Laser Annealing of Pb(Zr_(0.52)Ti_(0.48)O_3 Thin Films Using Pulsed Excimer (KrF) Laser

摘要

Laser annealing of Pb(Zr_(0.52)Ti_(0.48))O_3 (PZT) thin films (0.6 (mu)m) prepared by metal-organic decomposition (MOD) process on Pt/SiO_2/Si substrates were investigated. The annealing of the films is done in two steps; initially the films were annealed at low temperatures (550 deg C) using conventional furnace and rapid thermal annealing techniques. The films were finally laser annealed at room temperature using KrF excimer laser (248 nm). The RTA processed films, which already contain small proportion of perovskite phase, crystallized into the PZT perovskite structure after laser annealing process. The laser annealing duration increased the grain size of the PZT films. In contrast, the conventionally annealed films containing only pyrochlore phase cannot be converted into perovskite structure by the same laser annealing process. On the other hand, in-situ laser annealing of PZT films, which was heated to 400 deg C, can directly convert the amorphous to perovskite, which markedly increases the crystallization kinetics.