I hope you're all doing well. I am a PhD student at İstanbul University and I study on thin film fabrication and characterizations. I observe all XRD peaks of PZT after I annealed the film although there exist some cracks on the surface. However, whenever I coat top electrode, its short circuit to bottom electrode due to cracks. Before annealing, no XRD peaks are observed.
I am stuck in annealing process of PZT since the surface of thin films cracks. I fabricate thin films via RF magnetron sputter and anneal them 1 hour in a furnace between 400 - 650 ℃ with an increase of 50 ℃. Ramping up is 3 or 6 ℃/min, ramping down is 1 ℃/min or I let the furnace to cool down to room temperature naturally (~10 hours). No gas is introduced into furnace. Could you please help me about annealing process? How do you carry out annealing for PZT? Like in how many hours you reach to 650 ℃ and in how many hours it cools down to room temperature? I can't make PZT film without cracks. I also will try RTA and I need your suggestions for both the furnace and RTA. Thanks in advance. [The surface of the film is attached = PZT(1.3µm)/Pt(100nm)/Ti(10nm)/SiO2(300nm)/Si(350µm)]
Hello Ahmet Ünverdi! It's great to hear about your research at Istanbul University. I understand the difficulties you're having with the annealing of your PZT thin films. The annealing process for PZT thin films requires precise control of parameters such as ramping rates, holding time, cooling rates, inert gas atmosphere, multi-step annealing, rapid thermal annealing, pulse annealing, stress monitoring, post-annealing treatments, and substrate material.
Thanks for your valuable answer Alvena Shahid . Unfortunately, the situation is as you mentioned. I have tried different ramping up/down and holding times, even the RTA process but I am still having problems. The issue I have been facing is reported in the literature in plenty of works, however, although I follow instructions in those papers, still have the surface cracks.
Ahmet Ünverdi I understand the frustration you're facing despite following instructions from the literature. Crack-free PZT thin films during annealing are achieved through strategies like film thickness optimization, substrate considerations, surface pretreatment, and post-annealing treatments, despite variations in materials, equipment, and processes.
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