Development of (Pb, Nb)(Zr, Sn, Ti)O₃ Film Using a Sol-Gel Process and Resulting Antiferroelectric Properties

Abstract

We describe a series of experiments and computer simulations on vibrated granular media in a geometry chosen to eliminate gravitationally induced settling. The system consists of a collection of identical spherical particles on a horizontal plate vibrating vertically, with or without a confining lid. Previously reported results are reviewed, including the observation of homogeneous, disordered liquid-like states, an instability to a 'collapse' of motionless spheres on a perfect hexagonal lattice, and a fluctuating, hexagonally ordered state. In the presence of a confining lid we see a variety of solid phases at high densities and relatively high vibration amplitudes, several of which are reported for the first time in this article. The phase behaviour of the system is closely related to that observed in confined hard-sphere colloidal suspensions in equilibrium, but with modifications due to the effects of the forcing and dissipation. We also review measurements of velocity distributions, which range from Maxwellian to strongly non-Maxwellian depending on the experimental parameter values. We describe measurements of spatial velocity correlations that show a clear dependence on the mechanism of energy injection. We also report new measurements of the velocity autocorrelation function in the granular layer and show that increased inelasticity leads to enhanced particle self-diffusion.

A comprehensive review on the progress of lead zirconate-based antiferroelectric materials

“…Until 1992, Wang et al [27] fabricated PZ films with better microstructure by using acetate-based precursor, which showed an improved breakdown field and allowed the observation of electric field induced phase switching from AFE to FE state at room temperature. This result inspired the study on AFE films and a lot of works started to appear after that [66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73]. Typical works were reported by Xu et al [72,[74][75][76] and Zhai et al [73,77,78] Fig.…”

Effects of Nb impurity on orthorhombic PbZrO3crystals

“…A small tetragonal AFE region has also been reported at low doping near the high-temperature transition [3]. Using the double hysteresis loop, which is unavailable in FE materials such as BaTiO 3 and PZT, a number of applications have been proposed like charge storage and current source devices [4][5][6]. In addition, the PbZrO 3 films can be used in non-volatile random access memories as an inserting layer between the FE and electrode layers to improve the fatigue property [7].…”

Dielectric and ferroelectric properties of highly oriented (Pb,Nb)(Zr,Sn,Ti)O3 thin films grown by a sol-gel process

“…Some of the recently studied antiferroelectric systems include PbZrO 3 , 1 (Pb,La)(Zr,Sn,Ti)O 3 , and (Pb,Nb)(Zr,Sn,Ti)O 3 ͑PNZST͒. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] The compositiondependent electric properties of the antiferroelectricferroelectric phase switching [3][4][5] as well as the strain and the temperature dependence of the dielectric response have been examined. 4 -6 Most studies have thus far concerned with the deposition of antiferroelectric films on platinum coated silicon wafer substrates.…”

“…4 -6 Most studies have thus far concerned with the deposition of antiferroelectric films on platinum coated silicon wafer substrates. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] In general, ferroelectric thin films show smaller polarization, lower dielectric constant, and weaker piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties than the bulk materials of the same composition due to strong clamping effect from the substrate, finer grain size, interfacial layer effect, etc. One way to improve these properties is to choose an appropriate substrate or to use a specially prepared template layer so as to reduce the mismatch strain, to enhance local epitaxy or grain-on-grain growth, and to control the film orientation.…”