In situ temperature synthesis and characterization of ferroelectric PZN-4.5PT nanoparticles’ thin films using synchrotron light source

ABSTRACT

Despite the excellent properties of Pb(Zn_1/3Nb₂/₃)O₃-4.5PbTiO₃ (PZN-4.5PT) single crystals, the greatest difficulty for their application on electronic devices is to make them to thin layers related to the difficulty to make them as ceramic materials. In this paper, we use the combined USAXS/SAXS/WAXS instrument at 9ID beamline at APS-ANL for in situ characterization of PZN-4.5PT inorganic perovskite nanoparticles thin films deposited on nanotextured silicon to understand the phase transitions and determine the observed microcrystals' structure. The sample was annealed from ambient to 1000°C. The results revealed structure changes in the nanoparticles' thin films which could be explained by the new phase that can be assigned to the Pb₃(PO₄)2-based component. The peak at 31° indicates the presence of the rhombohedral phase perovskites assigned to the nanoparticles. WAXS characterization permitted to identification of many transitions during thermal annealing like dehydration or dihydroxylation of phosphorus gel –OH bonds and internal water.

KEYWORDS:

• Ferroelectric perovskite
• nanoparticles
• thin films
• synchrotron WAXS technique
• in situ synthesis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Electron microscopy was used with the Thermoscientific Apreo instrument housed at Rowan University. The instrument was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (contract #: CBET1625816). The instrument usage time was paid for by Rowan University funded by the REDI-SPARC initiative. This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from UNESCO-TWAS and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of UNESCO-TWAS, Sida or its Board of Governors.