Sputtered Lead Zirconate Titanate Thin Films Deposited on Silicon-on-Sapphire Substrates

Sputtered Pb(Zr
₅₂
Ti
₄₈
)O
₃
(PZT) thin films grown on 150 mm Silicon-on-Sapphire (SOS) substrates for RF MEMS applications. Film properties are compared to similar films deposited on 150 mm Si/SiO
₂
wafers. PZT films deposited on SOS show improvement in P
_MAX
(46.2 vs. 42.1 μV/cm
²
) and P
_REM
(22.0 vs. 16.5 μV/cm
²
) over films deposited on Si. A decrease in maximum ε
_r
from 1027 (Si) to 927 (SOS) is also noted. Crystal structure is examined using X-ray diffraction, while ferroelectric P-E hysteresis curves, dielectric constant tuning, and loss tangent are studied using fabricated capacitor structures.