Low symmetry phase in Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O-3 epitaxial thin films with enhanced ferroelectric properties

The authors report the structural and ferroelectric properties of Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O-3 (PZT) epitaxial thin films grown on (001), (110), and (111) SrRuO3/SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition. A monoclinic C (M-c) 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 M-c 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. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.