Nucleation and growth of ferroelectric thin films studied by total X-ray scattering.

In this work, the synthesis of ferroelectric PbZrTiO (PZT) thin films by chemical solution deposition (CSD) and their investigation by atomic pair distribution function (PDF), which is a total X-ray scattering method, are described. The PZT thin films are fabricated at different temperatures to analyse temperature-induced phase transitions. PDF analysis and further characterisation methods like energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) suggest a formation of a tetragonal zirconium dioxide phase on the glass substrate. This is in contradiction to previous results on a metallic substrate where a tetragonal PZT phase was formed. An other aim of the work is to optimise the performed synthesis and to test the PDF Method for applicability on ferroelectric thin films. Additionally, the discrepancies to the expected crystal structure are discussed by means of a structural model. In conclusion, possible improvements of the synthesis route are proposed, and possible further investigations of the samples are discussed